Small Surprises, Big Consequences
by Trackula
Summary: Kim meets a strange young girl, and through her learns more about her rival then she ever thought possible. Kigo, Please R
1. Tenacity

Your standard legal disclaimer thing: I don't own Kim Possible. I will remove this story off the net if they give me shit. Blah blah blah, yada yada yada. You all know the drill by now.

Small Surprises, Big Consequences

Chapter 1: Tenacity

Ann Possible was in the middle of vacuuming her home when the sound of heavy banging at the door broke her concentration. She was so surprised by the sudden noise that she forgot to walk over and answer the door for whomever it may be. During these few seconds the doorbell lent itself to the cacophony. The neurosurgeon turned and looked across the room as the door shook hard with every collision. She had no idea who could be so unbelievably rude but she intended to find out if for nothing else then to stop the noise, which was attracting the other three present members of the Possible household.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" She shouted to the door and the noise was quickly replaced by blessed silence. Kim and the Tweebs having heard the loud noise from their rooms came over to see who might be causing such a commotion. The twin siblings were curious as to what caller would come to their home in such a manner. Kim on the other hand only approached because she had a bad feeling about it and her intuitions were rarely if ever wrong.

With caution Ann opened the door and looked out at first seeing nothing but the empty street.

"Little lower." Said a young voice in what sounded like strained frustration. Ann looked down and was surprised by the sight before her. Kim remained by the stairs but Jim and Tim pushed past one another to see who stood in front of their mother.

A little girl probably no older then the Tweebs herself stood with her arms crossed and a scowl carved into her face before Ann, looking up at the neurosurgeon with obvious annoyance. Her hair was jet-black and cut just above her shoulders and her piercing eyes were an emerald green. Her skin was white and had a pasty smudged quality to it as well as dirt staining her left cheek. She wore a dark gray hooded sweatshirt at least two sizes too large, and black shorts with scuffed sneakers. The young girl was almost the spitting image of the stereotypical movie orphan.

Dr. Possible quickly found her bearings and spoke, "Um, can I help you dear? Are you a friend of Jim and Tim?" She asked considering their similar ages. The twins rarely had friends over despite being fairly popular at their school and usually used their time at home to find out new ways to blow things up or send them into orbit (preferably both).

"No mom." Said Tim.

"We don't know her." Added Jim. Although silently they both agreed that they wouldn't mind getting to know the girl. As far as the Tweebs were concerned the mysterious child was very cute even if she was glaring at the two of them through Dr. Possible's legs.

"As if," she tsked dismissively, "I'm looking for Kim Possible. She here?" Her tone had an air of rude entitlement that seemed as though it would be more appropriate on a member of the royal family.

Dr. Possible was a woman of incredible patience but she like any responsible adult didn't enjoy being talked down to by someone less than a third her age and half her size. Ann was about to open her mouth to scold the girl who hadn't even introduced herself but was cut off when Kim pushed the Tweebs aside and stepped up to the door next to her mother. She had heard the girl say her name from the stairs and figured that maybe she was there to request her help for a mission and didn't know how to use her site.

"You were asking for me?" Kim asked the strange girl. The little dark-haired girl turned her attention from the Doctor to the cheerleader. Kim was surprised to find the girl moving her eyes up and down her body. It was as though she was sizing her up and finding her wanting.

"You're Kim Possible? I dunno, I guess I expected someone… taller." She said sounding strangely disappointed.

Kim frowned at the response. She wasn't used to offering her assistance to people with such a rude attitude. If this girl wanted her help she was certainly going about it the wrong way. She heard the way she spoke to her mother and the twins and was frankly getting sick of it.

"Now listen you-" She was cut off when the girl held up a finger and turned towards the Doctor again.

"A little privacy please." She said offended and not at all in a requesting fashion. Dr, Possible sighed and turned to get back into the house. If the girl had come to her daughter then it really was no business of hers.

_Besides_, the older woman reasoned, _If she needed Kim then maybe she's in trouble. That would explain her impatience._ Ann had a habit of trying to find the lighter side of any situation. _It might very well have been very personal too, like a kidnapping she can't talk to the police about. That's happened a couple of times in the past._

When Ann left the doorway, Kim stepped outside and closed the door behind her. She was used to occasionally having to keep certain mission somewhat hush hush and figured that this might very well be a situation of that particular variety.

"Okay, were in private. What can I help you with?"

The girl looked around cautiously with a face revealing that she had issues with Kim's definition of "private". After confirming that there were no onlookers she looked Kim in the eye. Something about the young girl nagged at Kim like an annoying itch. She felt like she met her before, several times in fact but couldn't place her. It was amazingly irritating.

"Okay, so I read you past mission roster on that site of yours…" She said cautiously. Kim was at a loss. If the girl knew about her site, then why not contact her through it? It wasn't like it was hard to use or any thing. The dark-haired girl continued.

"So like, that blue guy's thief. Calls herself Shego, you know her right?" Kim was taken aback. What was a young girl asking about Shego for? Yes Kim knew the pale-green woman but she wasn't a friend of hers or anything like that. She didn't have the woman's phone number if that's what the girl was asking.

"Well do you?" the girl said impatiently when she wasn't greeted with an immediate response.

"Okay lets hold up and back up a bit. You haven't even told me who you are yet. That sounds like a better place to start things off." Kim said trying to sound patient.

The girl furrowed her brow in annoyance and then seemed to retreat within herself in deep thought. After what felt like a minute she spoke.

"Agni, you can call me Agni." She said with some finality.

"Agni what?" Kim asked. She got the feeling that she was being given an alias.

"Agni None-of-your-business, that's what!" The emerald-eyed girl snapped.

"Hey listen, I don't like being jerked around by people asking for my help, so cool it!" Kim snapped. The girl was working her last nerve, and the feeling of familiarity she gave off made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. The green-eyed child grit her teeth and looked away.

"Sorry" she said barely above a whisper. To Kim it seemed like the girl apologizing took all the strength she had in her. The cheerleader decided to cut the girl a break.

"Apology accepted, now what were you asking about Shego?" Kim didn't want to admit it but she was very curious about Agni. There was just something about the young girl…

"So you **do** know her. Good. That makes things easier. Listen, I need you to take me to her."

For a moment Kim thought she had heard the girl wrong. However after looking at the resolute determination all over the girls face, she understood that was not the case.

"**What**? Take you to Shego? Are you crazy?" Kim said in shock. If the girl had gone to her site, she would know that Shego was a wanted criminal. The pale-green thief had warrants out for her arrest in almost every country in the world, not to mention the fact that she was extremely dangerous. Agni merely raised an eyebrow at the reaction.

"I certainly am not crazy!" She said hotly. "Listen, I just want to find her. I'll pay you if that's what you want."

Kim shook her head. She never asked for money and wasn't about to start with some clearly confused little girl. "I don't need you money." Then something occurred to the teenager that should have come to mind much sooner. "Hey, where are your parents?"

"My **grandparents** are back home in Go." Agni stated curtly. If Kim were drinking she would have reflexively done a spit-take after hearing that. Go was three states over, and the girl in front of her couldn't have been more then twelve. "You traveled all the way here, by yourself?" She stated shocked.

"Um… Duh." She said as If it were obvious. "There's no way Gram or Gramp would ever let me come here so I had to take some initiative. It was no big deal."

"No big deal! I have to get you back home!" Kim quickly said. The girl could have gotten herself killed just trying to get to her, and while she wouldn't admit it Kim was pretty impressed. At hearing the redhead's shocked outburst the girl shook her head vehemently.

"No, what **you** have to do is get me to Shego. So how bout it?"

Kim ground her teeth if frustration. How could one little girl cause her such grief in such a short period of time? It was looking to be such a good morning too. She decided to just get to the bottom of the matter rather then play Agni's little games.

"Why do you want to meet Shego so badly? She's a wanted criminal!"

The girl crossed her arms and scoffed. "I'm a **huge** fan. I thought you could introduce me to my idol." The girl said laying on the sarcasm as thick as molasses.

Kim had reached her limit of patience. She reached down and grabbed Agni's hand, and pulled her within the house. Her first and (as far as she was concerned, only) order of business was to get Agni back to her grandparents as soon as possible. First she would get her something to eat and then they would be off. While Kim was loath to call in a favor for something so minor she was left with little choice.

"So," said Agni in a cautiously questioning tone, "you going to take me to Shego then?"

"The only place **I'm** going to take you is back to your grandparents." Kim said hotly. She was tired of playing games and she wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. The girl was just unpleasant to be around. At hearing Kim's response Agni began to pull feebly at Kim's hand wrapped tightly around her wrist to get free.

"Argh, dammit! Let go of me! This was a waste of time! I should have just done this myself! Leggo of my hand!" She said as she tried to brace her legs. Kim wasn't surprised that the girl swore. It seemed to fit with her overall attitude. What did surprise her was how strongly she was pulling to get free. A normal little girl wouldn't be that strong, and if Kim didn't have such a good grip on her she would have broken free by now.

"Calm down, when was the last time you ate?" She couldn't imagine it was anytime soon considering that at the sound of the word "food" the girl's stomach responded almost immediately with a strained rumble. She tried to cover it up by snapping at Kim.

"**Shut up!** I can take care of myself thanks!"

"I'm sure. You expect to find a woman like Shego when you can't even remember to feed yourself." Kim heard the girl mumble something under her breath. "What was that?"

"I said; I thought I'd need all my money to bribe you into helping me, so I couldn't waste it on food." She reached into her sweater pocket and pulled out a surprisingly thick wad of bills. " I have five hundred dollars here and it's all yours if you can get me to Shego."

Kim nearly tripped at the sight. "What's a little girl like you doing with so much cash?"

"I'm not little, and I'm spoiled rotten by my grandparents, that's what."

"Spoiled is right…" Kim said under her breath.

She would never accept such money from an adult let alone a child. However as she prepared a tuna sandwich for Agni, she couldn't help but wonder what would make the girl go to such lengths to meet a woman like Shego. She asked that very question, as she handed the girl the sandwich. Rather then answer, the pale young girl threw her an annoyed glare and nearly shoved the entire sandwich down her throat, barely able to hold In the small sigh of happiness from finally eating a real meal after three days of travel. She'd had nothing but granola bars to keep her strength up and those ran out the night before.

Kim sat down across from her and watched as the girl ate, wondering all the while who she was and why she seemed so familiar. Agni sensed this and looked up at Kim with annoyance before swallowing her current mouthful.

"Stop looking at me. It's creepy."

The teen sighed and silently decided to take the girl home after she finished her sandwich. As she thought of this, the Kimmunicators familiar ring tone filled the kitchen. Kim quickly answered it and tried to ignore Agni as she looked over her shoulder at the strange device.

"Hey Wade, What's the stitch?"

"Hey Kim, Listen..." He paused when he saw the small face looking over Kim's shoulder.

"Who is that?"

Kim looked behind her and sighed. "Hold on Wade." She turned away from the Kimmunicator and looked Agni in the eye. "I want you to stay right here and finish your sandwich. I'll get back to you in a minute."

Agni sighed and crossed her arms. "Yeah, whatever…"

Kim went up to her room and closed her door behind her for some privacy. The last thing she wanted was that girl getting any bad ideas. She turned her attention back to Wade.

"Sorry about that, Wade."

"Who was that?"

"It's a long story. So, the stitch?"

"Oh yeah, sorry, I guess I spaced for a bit. Well, it seems like our favorite blue inventor has decided to enclose all of Nevada in some kind of dome made of ice. Sounds like he's run out of ideas huh?"

"Drakken, really? What are the odd of that…" Well, now the redhead knew where Shego was, at least for now considering how the green thief got around. Not that the cheerleader had any intention of bringing Agni anywhere but home in Go city.

"Kim?" Wade asked having noticed Kim looking off into space.

"Sorry Wade, so just the standard operation then?"

"Seems like, your ride should be there any minute."

"Thanks Wade, I'll call you when I get there." She closed the connection.

"So, when are we leaving?"

Kim let out a shriek and fell off of her bed at hearing the sudden voice from behind. She quickly turned with her fists in the ready only to see Agni casually sitting on her bed.

"Agni! How did you get in here?" The redhead had been facing the door the entire time so she knew that the girl hadn't entered through there.

"Through the window, doy." She stated as though it were obvious.

"This is the second floor!" Kim hollered. Agni just shrugged dismissively. To have heard any of Kim's conversation with Wade, the girl had to have ran around the house, climbed up to Kim's window from a wall with no suitable handholds and gotten through the closed window, all within a minute and a half. On top of that, she did it without making any sounds that would have alerted Kim.

_Who is this girl?_

"Shego works for that Drakken dude right? The guy you're going after? Well what great timing! Lets go!" Agni grinned, maybe for the first time since Kim met her. The expression made the younger girl look very cute. Despite this, Kim just looked at her levelly. She had some bad news to break to the girl.

(Two hours later)

Kim hoped that the bratty little pre-teen wasn't giving her mother too hard a time. When she told Agni that she was leaving her in the care of her parents until she got back, the girl thrown a fit hard enough to shake the house. Kim had actually considered tying her to the bed to insure the young girl didn't follow her. She was currently in the passenger compartment of a military transport chopper waiting for when she would take the plunge towards the icy dome that used to be the state of Nevada rapidly becoming visible in the distance.

Apparently Drakken was demanding a ransom of fifty billion dollars from the state of Nevada in exchange for his release of the city. She got so frustrated sometimes with the blue scientist. He certainly had above average talent in his field, but the man was just lacking in everywhere else, common sense most of all. His greatest achievement it seemed was keeping Shego on his payroll.

Thinking about the green thief just brought Kim's thoughts back to Agni. The girl was a mystery that was for sure and not one easily solved considering how tight-lipped she was being. There was more to this girl wanting to meet Shego than she was seeing. Maybe should would inquire about the girl to Shego during their usual combat banter. Who knows, maybe the green-thief would be able to answer her questions. Kim noticed that the ice dome was now right underneath the chopper. She prepared herself for the freefall, checking on her parachute.

"Were supposed to land on that thing right?" Said a voice from behind.

Kim shrieked and whipped around, almost falling from the helicopter in the process. Agni was sitting behind her wearing a parachute that barely fit her and staring calmly while waiting for an answer.

"Agni, what are you doing here?" Kim shouted. This was getting ridiculous. The teen refused to believe that the young girl had been hiding behind her the entire time. Agni just looked up at her with an expression that said the reason was pretty obvious. Kim grit her teeth.

"Listen; there is **no way** I'm taking you on this mission with me! You're just a little girl with an obvious **death wish**! This is dangerous work, and you could get **hurt**!" Kim shouted without pause. She needed to take a deep breath after she got all that out. In response, Agni merely crossed her arms.

"You finished? Good. Now listen, I'm going down there one way or another. Either you take me with you or I go it on my own." Kim realized that she really wasn't given much of a choice. If she left the girl up on the chopper there was a very good chance that she would escape on her own and get herself killed. If she went with Kim then at least the redhead could keep an eye on her.

"Fine, she said after taking a deep sigh of defeat, "but listen up, I don't want you leaving my side for **anything**! You understand?" Agni's eyes lit up and she nodded vehemently.

It's strange, the girl acts so mature most of the time but she seems so young when she's happy, almost like a normal girl. At least, as long as you ignore her skin tone.

After explaining what they were going to do, both jumped from the chopper. Kim made sure Agni kept a firm grip around her waist as they fell towards the massive ice structure. It surprised the redhead that the girl took to such dangerous business so calmly. Agni had a strange look of determination on her face that surprised Kim quite a bit. After a moment of waiting and preparation the redhead released the parachute. Moments later the two landed safely on the surface of the dome. Using a cutting laser built into Kim's lipstick the unlikely duo made their way inside.

A large metal sphere floated high above the city underneath the ice-wall. It was about the size of your average mansion. If Wade's description was accurate, that was the machine Drakken was using to freeze over the state. It had been stolen from a top secret military research facility not ten hours ago by none other then Shego herself and Drakken wasted no time using it since she remembered to retrieve it's user manual (she remembered her mistakes after the weather machine incident). Using her grappling hook, Kim swung Agni and herself over to the sphere and made their way up to its entrance hatch. Kim used her cutting laser to make a hole big enough to fit through.

The entire time the hero thoroughly warning the young girl to keep close to her no matter what to which Agni's response was usually a rude, "I'm not deaf, y'know!"

The moment Kim entered the facility three of Drakken's hired thugs were upon her. Of course since these were _Drakken's_ hired thugs they afforded her little difficulty. All three hit the ground in just under a minute after they charged her. Kim wondered if any had alerted the rest of the ship to their presence. She hoped not, not because of her own safety but because keeping an eye on Agni was proving to be a chore. The girl seemed like she was always trying to run ahead.

Unexpectedly Kim heard a whistle from behind. She turned around to find Agni was looking down at the beaten bodies with admiration, and then nudged one with her shoe.

"Hmm, this really **is** your thing, huh? Your better than I thought you'd be."

"Really?" Kim asked in surprise. It was the first compliment the young girl had given her. In fact it was the first positive thing that the young girl had said all day.

"Yeah, I figured you'd really suck. I mean, I keep sneaking up on you and I'm only twelve."

Kim's mood soured, "You're a cheeky little brat you know that?"

Agni merely shrugged. "Runs in my family."

"Some family," Kim hissed under her breath as they made their way through several more rooms and a few more guards. By Kim's calculations they should reach the control center very soon. The cheerleader rounded the corner keeping sure that Agni stayed well behind her before a very familiar green and black sight filled her vision.

Shego stood in front of the cheerleader with both hands ignited with that mysterious green power of hers. The older woman's eyes were half lidded in a look of extreme boredom. She smirked when she saw Kim and pushed herself off the wall where she was leaning against.

"Ahh, Pumpkin. There's finally, something for me to do in this big metal ping-pong ball. I'm glad you were so prompt in showing up. I was starting to get worried" She took a crouched fighting stance to compensate for the narrow corridor they stood in.

"Alright, Kimmie. Lets do thi-" Her words died off as Agni stepped out from behind Kim and looked up at the pale-green thief. The woman's stance dropped all at once and she just stood and stared at the girl in open shock completely forgetting about Kim.

Kim wasn't sure how to react. Something unseen appeared to be passing between the two in front and behind her. She'd never seen the pale thief look so surprised. Then they said something that turned Kim's world on its head.

"Agni…" Shego said in a mix of both shock a denial as though the woman was having trouble believing in the sight before her.

Agni looked up at the dark-haired woman and smiled. "Hi Mom."

Chapter 1: End


	2. Request

This idea has been rolling around my head for a while. I hope you all enjoy it as i write it. Your responses are appreciated.

Your standard legal disclaimer thing: I don't own Kim Possible. I will remove this story off the net if they give me shit. Blah blah blah, yada yada yada. You all know the drill by now.

Small Surprises, Big Consequences

Chapter 2: Request

In all of Kim's sixteen years of life, she had never in her wildest dreams expected to bear witness what she was right at that moment. All of a sudden all those nagging suspicions and strange feeling were beginning to make all too much sense to the redhead. Agni looked and acted almost exactly like Shego! No wonder she couldn't place the similarities; as far as the redhead was concerned, it was impossible. Shego a mother? Never! The thought that her rival had a family was strange enough when Kim first met her brothers. This however was in it's own playing field altogether. In the genius redhead's mind things simply were not adding up.

Agni had said she was twelve years old, the same as the Tweebs and Kim had believed her. But that couldn't be right, could it? How old was Shego if it were true? In all of Kim's past searches in the dark haired thief's life she was never even able to get her real name let alone her age. Everything about the super-powered woman was shrouded in mystery. As near as Wade could tell during his searches, she must have stolen or deleted almost all government files on herself with meticulous detail. All that Kim had managed to find out about the older woman were things during her missions such as that she had four siblings, used to be a superhero, and came from Go city. And now to add to that vast field of information, Kim was hearing straight from the little sable-haired girl beside her that Shego was her mother!

_Women like Shego don't have children!_

Kim was cut from her inner reverie when she felt Agni push past her and run up to Shego throwing her arms around the stunned pale older woman's waist. Shego for her part was still looking down at the girl in shock, having forgotten that Kim was even in the hallway with them. A deep part of Kim's brain kept trying to tell her that now would be a good time to save the people of Nevada but the rest of her brain was deaf to it's suggestions. All she was concerned with was why Agni came to her for help in the first place.

Shego seemed to regain her bearings while looking down at the young girl currently hugging her arms around her. Her expression seemed troubled, but soon became resolute as if she had come to a decision. Bringing her right arm up she rolled her black glove baring her wrist and revealing a small watch-communicator. She pressed the call button and Drakken's scratchy voice came through clearly.

"Shego? What is it? Did you stop Kim Possible?" there was a pause. "My new sub-zero base is going to self destruct isn't it?" To Kim ears Drakken sounded somewhat forlorn.

"Uh, Doc… listen, something's come up and I gotta take off." Shego said in a somewhat distracted voice.

"What? But Shego, you're on the clock! Were in the middle of a big operation!"

Shego growled into the communicator eliciting a squeak of fear from the man. "Okay, **listen up** Dr. D! I'm taking a personal day, **got it?** So shut up and if you want to make a big thing out of this then cancel my contract!" Her tone brooked absolutely no argument.

"But Shego I-"

Shego hissed and cut the communication before turning her attention back down to the small person wrapped around her midsection. After a moment of thought the thief looked down at Agni and placed her hand cautiously on the girl's shoulder as though she wasn't sure if she were allowed to touch the girl. It was the first time Kim saw the green woman look so vulnerable. The redhead was beginning to feel self-conscious at seeing all of this, like a voyeur. However, Shego didn't seem to mind, or even notice Kim's presence. Her attention was clearly on more important things.

The green woman's voice cracked when she went to finally say something to the emerald-eyed girl, so she stopped and cleared her throat first.

"H-hey kid. You uh… what are you doing here?" Shego managed to ask and then winced. It clearly didn't come out the way she intended. Seeing Shego look so tongue tied and nervous was vexing the redhead who was so used to her proud and arrogant declarations. Agni just looked up at the woman she identified as her mother and smiled brightly.

"I wanted to see you. So I went and did it. Simple right?" The young girl acted like she didn't notice the heavy atmosphere in the room. Shego furrowed her brow at the response.

"You really shouldn't have just shown up like this. You're grandparents are going to think I kidnapped you, y'know?"

Agni mood suddenly soured and she averted her gaze. "Screw em."

Now Kim decided that it was well past her time to leave the hallway. She and Kim had a very professional relationship that was very quickly becoming deeply personal. She doubted that Shego or Agni would appreciate her presence and Kim was beginning to feel damn uncomfortable. However, when she began to slink around the two for her escape Shego's hand struck out of nowhere and grabbed Kim by her shirt's collar. Kim looked up quickly and grabbed the pale woman by the wrist to try to get her to let go but the black-haired thief's grip was like steel and her gaze bore deep into the younger woman.

"Tell me, Princess… Why oh why were you carting around my **daughter** on one of your missions? Don't you have that blonde idiot to keep you company?" While Kim struggled to release herself she was surprised when Agni spoke up suddenly on her behalf.

"I didn't give her much choice I guess. I sort of forced her to help me." The young girl said casually. In Kim's opinion it was more that the girl was stating a fact than that she was coming to the redhead's aid.

"You **forced** Kim Possible to help you?" Shego asked craning one of her eyebrows.

"Yeah, cool huh? You proud of me?" She asked while smiling. Apparently to Agni, her manipulating Kim into marching to the child's tune was something worthy of her mother's praise. Kim couldn't believe her ears when Shego reached forward and rubbed the younger girls head.

"Sure I am. It's hard enough for **me** to deal with her." Shego smiled but it was a forced expression. After a few seconds past she let go of Kim's shirt and kneeled down so that she was eye level with Agni.

"Lets go get something to eat. It's getting late and I bet you haven't had dinner."

Agni grinned and grabbed her mother by the hand. "Yeah, lets go!"

As the two started walking back the way Kim originally came Shego stopped and without turning around spoke out to the redhead.

"Well, you coming?" Shego asked. Her voice was an unreadable neutral. Kim's eyes widened.

"I'm invited too?" She asked, finding the concept hard to believe. They were archenemies the last time she checked. Hell, just two minutes ago the older woman hadn't hesitated before slammed Kim into a wall.

"Of course, I'm not through with you yet."

"I only did what I always do! It was that little brat that decided to tag along! Besides, I have to save this state, remember? From you?"

"Drakken didn't want you or anyone else to know this but this floating tin can has about three hours left of fuel. You've already won, so c'mon."

"Aww, why does she have to come? I finally found you so we don't need **her** anymore." Agni whined. Apparently as far as the she was concerned, Kim had already fulfilled any use that she might pose to the young girl. Shego looked like she was about to chastise Agni but visibly checked herself almost as though she didn't think she had a right to discipline her. Instead she just said, "She's coming so deal."

"Damn!"

Kim didn't move. If Shego wanted her to come along she would need a far better reason than that. She told Shego as much.

"Just… do me this favor, kay? You already owe me for dragging Agni into this potentially **dangerous** situation."

Kim opened her mouth to speak but realized that any excuse she could come up with would sound hollow. She had allowed a child to talk her into taking her along into a large floating fortress that was filled with hair-trigger goons that probably would have felt the same about beating down on a little girl as on the teen hero. Kim was the adult (or at least young adult) so it was her responsibility in the end that Agni went with her at all.

Kim sighed defeated and moved up alongside Shego. "Fine, you win." She groaned when she saw Agni glare at the teen accusingly and if that wasn't enough, she stuck her tongue out at Kim. As far as the cheerleader was concerned, some days it was simply not worth getting out of bed.

(One hour later)

Kim found herself sitting across from Shego and Agni in a small town restaurant they had spotted from the air. Shego had taken Drakken's hover-pod after leaving the sub-zero machine and as far as Kim could tell, they seemed to be heading back in the direction of Middleton. The entire trip had felt unbelievably strained with none of the three occupants willing to break the silence. Kim felt that she had little that she even could say considering how the whole situation she had been pulled in the middle of had left her in the dark. Shego was in her own head thinking god-knows-what and occasionally looking over at the small girl next to her as if to remind herself that Agni was there too.

In contrast to the other two, Agni seemed completely untroubled and content as she sat holding tightly onto Shego's hand and listening to her MP3 player to fill in the awful silence. It had been a welcome change in scenery when they spotted the all-night breakfast place on the way. Kim hadn't realized it at the time but she had not eaten since breakfast. Agni showed up right before lunch the teen would have had lunch.

Once they were seated Agni wasted no time ordering her self a large pile of waffles smothered in just about everything on the table. Kim was about to order something similarly along those lines and take full advantage of the situation, but then Shego looked up sharply at her and said, "You know I'm not paying for you, right?" Considering that Agni's order was out of Kim's current budget she was forced to simply settle on a small plate of scrambled eggs. Shego for her part just sipped a cup of black coffee that Kim was sure was still too hot to drink without scalding her.

I sometimes wish I had green fire powers too…

They ate (or in Shego's case drank) in silence for over ten painful minutes with no one willing to say anything. Kim was getting sick-to-death of the unbearable quiet that she had been wrapped in for over two hours. The cheerleader was used to a lively dinner table with her family talking about their day or eating out with Ron and Rufus at the Bueno Nacho. She wasn't sure how much more of the situation she could take.

You know Kim; **you** are the resident hero. If anyone's going to save any one it's going to be you, even if it's just you saving yourself from going crazy.

Kim cleared her throat and got the grudging attention of the other two at the booth. She was about to ask, "So, how long has Shego been your Mother," but she quickly stopped herself from saying anything quite that certifiable. Instead she went for an easier approach.

"So, um… how long has it been since you've seen each other?" As far as Kim could tell it had to have been at least a year or Shego wouldn't have acted so surprised. The teen shrank back when she noticed that Shego's gaze was currently trying to eat her soul. Agni on the other hand was busy doing math in her head. After a second the girl swallowed her current bite and looked over at Shego and Kim.

"Eight years, right?"

Now Kim was very glad she wasn't drinking anything or else she would have spat it all over the green woman and signed her death certificate. _Eight years!_ Kim couldn't even fathom keeping out of contact with her family for that long. No wonder Shego seemed so out of sorts when she saw Agni.

Shego leaned forward at the table and rubbed her temples to stave off what was clearly a mother of a headache. "Yeah, eight sounds about right."

Agni grinned proudly, "I remembered because it was your eighteenth birthday, even if I was just four at the time. I've got a pretty good memory, huh?"

Such simple math was processed almost automatically in Kim's head. She had her answer to how old Shego was before she even realized._ Wait a second… If Shego is twenty-six and Agni is twelve… _Kim's eye nearly bugged out of her head,_ then Shego was only fourteen when Agni was born!_

Shego silenced the words about to exit Kim's mouth with a dangerous look, before adding. "Yeah, pretty good alright…"

If there was one thing Shego did not want right then, it was to bring up that night in front of her archrival. The older woman looked over at Agni and pulled a wet nap from her pocket handing it to the small girl.

"Go to the bathroom and wipe that crap off your face, I'm sick of seeing it." Kim wasn't sure as to what Shego was referring to, but obediently Agni did just that leaving Kim alone with Shego for what seemed like the first time since the girl first showed up on Kim's doorstep. Shego turned to Kim and her expression was stern.

"First you show up out of nowhere with my brothers and now you show up with Agni. What is with you and this unhealthy obsession you have with my family?"

Kim wasn't about to take such an accusation without challenge so she snapped back. "Y'know, maybe if you didn't estrange the lot of them they wouldn't keep coming to _me_ to find you!"

"The situation between my brothers and me and the situation between Agni and me are so **totally** not the same thing!" She hollered. "Besides, it's none of your business anyway, so butt out!"

"You made it my business when you dragged me in here!"

Shego ceased her argument and looked down at her hands. "Yeah, about that… I need-" She cut her self off as she saw Agni walk back to the table. At first Kim was about to enquire as to what Shego was about to say but the quickly did a double take when she saw that Agni's skin had changed color. Instead of being a pasty off-white, now her skin was a creamy light shade of green. For a moment Kim was at a loss but she soon put two and two together.

So that's what she meant by "wipe that crap off your face". Agni was wearing makeup! Wow, I wonder if she inherited any of Shego's other "traits".

Agni quickly took her seat next to Kim and without giving the redhead a second glance began to resume eating. Shego had used the time the girl was gone to quickly figure out some topic of conversation to have with the young girl.

"Your birthday was about three months ago… Did you receive my package?"

_I guess they at least keep in contact, _Kim figured.

Agni looked up and nodded, happy that the woman had started making some kind of attempt at conversation. "Yeah, it was great thanks!" She reached up and pulled down the neck of her sweater revealing a massive gold necklace encrusted with emeralds and ornately carved obsidian engravings. Kim recognized it immediately considering that very necklace had disappeared from the British Royal Museum over six months ago. It was a priceless royal family heirloom from the 16th century!

For her part Shego just smiled. "I'm glad you like it, a girl your age needs to start worrying about accessories." Kim leaned forward and as quietly as she could so as not to alert the other diners, she hissed at Shego, "You gave your daughter **stolen** goods!" Shego just raised an eyebrow at Kim.

"Are you that shocked by the notion?" Quickly, before Kim had a chance to say anything else on the matter she turned back to Agni. "So… How's school?"

The young pale girl glared at her waffles. "Hate it, the teachers and students are complete idiots."

Shego snickered. "Yeah, you'll find that most people are."

Kim decided not to be left in the dust and chimed in. "What school do you go to?"

Agni cast her a glare and in a barely audible mumble she said, "Go Academy School for Gifted Women. So in other words I get my education in Hell itself." Shego clicked her tongue disapprovingly when she heard the name.

Kim's eyes widened. She knew all about that school. It was this rich all-girls academy that was equipped to teach kindergarten through high school for the best and brightest women in the country! They had even scouted Kim when she was younger, but the redhead had turned them down so she could stay in Middleton with her family. She found it hard to believe that the girl in front of her could go to a facility where you were not only required to wear a uniform and sit up straight all the time, but dealing with some of the most challenging curriculum in the nation. The child in front of her was dressed like a hobo and slouched over her food with her elbows on the table.

Kim realized she was staring when the young girl looked up glaring and said, "I told you before to stop looking at me, and that it's creepy!" Kim sighed and averted her gaze.

Shego leaned back in her seat, "While we're on the subject, on this little trip of yours, how many days of school did you miss?"

Agni gulped and looked up at Shego with an expression Kim recognized from the Tweebs whenever their mother was about to scold them. "Well, I've been gone for four days counting today." She then mumbled something inaudible under her breath.

"What was that?" Shego asked sharply.

Agni rolled her eyes and spoke up. "But in total I've missed about twenty days throughout the whole semester." Shego's eye twitched.

_Oh yeah. _Kim thought. _Big family resemblance._

"Well then, that's twenty day's that I paid for your school to drag its ass." She smirked and Agni calmed down some. "I guess I'll just have to take back from them whatever that's worth."

Agni snickered and looked up at Shego. "Don't worry about it. It's not like I'm going to go there anymore." This caught both women's immediate attention.

_What does she mean by that? _Kim thought. Apparently Shego had the same idea and vocalized the question.

Agni swallowed down another bite of chewed waffle and looked her mother in the eye. "What I mean that I'm going to live with you from now on so it doesn't matter." She paused before adding impishly, " But if you want to we can still raid the place." Kim could practically feel all of Shego's muscles stiffen up at hearing the young girl's naive statement. It apparently didn't escape Agni's notice either and the thief's daughter frowned.

"That's okay, right? I mean… there's no way I'm ever going back to that crappy city or that even crappier school. I want to stay with you." There was an openly pleading look in her eyes that Shego was having trouble dealing with.

"We-we'll talk about it when we get back to my apartment." Shego managed to say in a somewhat distant tone of voice. Regardless the words seemed to pacify the younger girl and she finished the final bite of her meal. Shego and Kim, having ordered much smaller portions than the girl had finished a good deal earlier and simply was waiting for Agni to catch up. All three then stood up to leave the restaurant since Shego had already paid up front, but the pale-green woman placed a hand on Agni's shoulder halting her.

"Listen Agni; wait here for a minute. I gotta go have a word with Kim alone." Her voice was stern and while that normally would have gotten an immediate response from Agni, this time she decided to contest her instructions.

"Why? Why is **she** even still here? We should just drop her off now and go back to your place!" Shego would have none of that though and she narrowed her eyes at the girl causing Agni to wince and take a step back.

"Just be a good girl for me, got it?"

Agni nodded and grudgingly crossed her arms. "Whatever…" The young girl didn't understand why her Mother had insisted that Kim come along with them. As far as she knew, they hated each other although anyone who looked in on their last meal would have probably thought otherwise. She secretly hoped that her mother was calling the redhead outside so she could beat her up like usual and leave her here in the middle of nowhere. As far as she was concerned, any enemy of Shego was any enemy to her.

What Agni envisioned couldn't have been further from the truth as Shego led Kim outside the restaurant. Kim had a feeling that she was finally going to be told why she had been brought along by her archrival in the first place. They weren't exactly friends after all. Once they were out front, Shego leaned against the establishment's wall and crossed her arms, while Kim stood in front of her waiting.

"Okay, Shego, Spill it."

The green woman sighed and seemed to be internally debating how to word what she wanted to say. After a moment, she seemed to find her voice.

"Okay, listen. I know I'm in no position to ask anything from you, 'specially after the Li'l Diablo thing…" Kim nodded, agreeing with the sentiment. That hadn't been a good night for either of the two women. "But I really need your help me with this. Like, more then anything I could **ever** ask of you. I'll beg on my knees if I have to."

Now Kim was on her guard. Shego beg? That simply wasn't possible. Of course, just four hours ago, Shego having a daughter was even more impossible so this was really just par for the course. She realized Shego was waiting for a response so she spoke up.

"Go on, I'm listening."

Shego took a deep breath to steel her self and looked at Kim pleadingly. "Please don't tell **anyone** about Agni." Kim took a step back.

"What? **Why?**"

The older woman shook her head. "I have devoted a good majority of my time to see to it that there is as **little** connecting her to me as there possibly can be. When I tell you nobody outside of my family knows that Agni is my daughter I mean **nobody**. Even her birth certificate was altered." She looked up at Kim. "And now you know and that puts me in a very delicate position. You don't have any reason to do me any favors or keep any secrets for me so-"

"I wont tell anyone." Kim stated cutting the woman off. Shego looked up at her in surprise.

"You wont? Why? You've got no reason to help me." Shego said narrowing her eyes and clearly not buying it. She had expected that she might have to bribe or bargain with the young Possible but it seemed like the girl was offering to help her out with no strings attached.

"You remember that one time during Halloween that I was grounded by my parents and you knew to back off because it was a private family affair?" Kim asked remembering that awful night.

Shego nodded after some thought. "Yeah, what about it?"

"This is just like that. I have no business screwing with your family, especially if it might get an… "Innocent" girl like Agni in trouble." Kim had to bite her tongue to keep from saying what label she would have preferred to use to describe little Agni. Had it not been so dark Kim would have seen Shego's cheeks flush a darker green then usual. The older woman broke eye contact and stared down at her boots.

"Uh… Thanks."

Kim could tell from the strain in Shego's voice that it was just as difficult for the thief to express gratitude as it was for her daughter to apologies. The redhead found that to be strangely endearing. One thing was nagging at her however.

"You're not going to let her live with you are you?" Considering Shego's stance on people knowing about Agni she doubted it. Kim couldn't see Shego being a very stable adult to live with either considering that the green woman enjoyed her status as an international fugitive. In response Shego looked up at Kim sharply.

"Of course I'm not! I'm not an idiot. I'll let her stay the night and then first thing tomorrow I'm driving her back to her Grandparent's place." She suppressed a shudder at the thought. "I can't believe you even asked that. Who do you think I am?"

Kim held up both hands defensively. "Calm down. I just needed to make sure, okay? So not the drama!" Shego sighed and rubbed her temples for the second time that night.

"Okay, get in the pod. I'll go get Agni and then drop you off back at your home."

Kim nodded and went to do as she was asked. She hoped that her parents weren't going to be to mad about her coming in so late since she was mentally to exhausted to deal with that. Above all else she was reprocessing everything that Shego told her that night. The hero was honestly having trouble understanding why the older woman was so adamant about keeping the young girl at arms length with her world. She figured that it had something to do with Shego's career (if you could call it that), but there had to be more to it. The thief never had trouble balancing her fugitive status and her social life before so that meant that there had to be some other factor involved. Kim didn't want to enquire since as she said earlier; it wasn't her business, and she knew Shego would say the same, but it irked her nonetheless.

(One hour later, outside the Possible residence)

The ride home had been in similar silence as it was before the pit stop however this time Agni had turned on the radio and over the news the three heard how the giant ice dome over Nevada was currently evaporating away and that the fugitive, a one Dr. Drew Lipsky was currently in military custody. Agni laughed out loud at that, while Kim and Shego remained silent as they arrived at Kim's house. Every now and then Kim got the feeling that Agni was glaring at her from the backseat but she learned to ignore it after awhile.

When they finally arrived at Kim's house the redhead hopped out of the hover-pod with light grace and before she could turn to say "good bye" or "thanks for the ride" (she was a very polite young woman even in the presence of enemies) Shego turned the pod around and sped off, presumably to her home. As the pod disappeared into the distance, Kim could have sworn that she saw Agni sticking her tongue out at her again. The redhead merely sighed and made her way inside with every intention of ignoring the gesture. She honestly hoped that by morning she would forget all events that had occurred that day so that she could move on with her normal (by her definition) life.

She had no idea how impossible that would turn out to be. Even for a Possible.

Chapter 2: End


	3. Audacity

Your standard legal disclaimer thing: I don't own Kim Possible. I will remove this story off the net if they give me shit. Blah blah blah, yada yada yada. You all know the drill by now.

To anyone interested you can see a sketch of Agni here at: deviantart DOT com SLASH deviation SLASH 60631830 SLASH

Small Surprises, Big Consequences

Chapter 3: Audacity

Kim awoke uncharacteristically late the very next morning. Usually she rose with the sun filled with seemingly boundless energy that she would probably end up spending throughout her day. Today however she felt, to put it bluntly, like crap. Her mouth tasted like old sticky shoe polish, she had a throbbing headache and to top it off her right arm appeared to have fallen asleep some time ago and felt like pins and needles were digging into it. Using her left hand she wiped the sleep from her eyes and let out a tired groan. Curious as to how long she had slept in, the redhead craned her neck around to look at her alarm clock to find the digital numbers reading that it was close to twelve thirty in the afternoon.

_Wow… It's been years since I stayed in that late. _

Whenever the teen was in bed past seven she felt slothful and lazy and usually did her best to be up on time. Thankfully, today was Sunday and so she had no prior engagements prepare for. The redhead thought back on the day before to try to remember why she felt so out of sorts that morning and quickly recalled the stream of events that had so heavily taxed her. Remembering her meeting Agni, and all the chaos that came after knocked any trace of sleep that remained in the redhead out on it's figurative ass and she immediately sat up, or at least tried to. She found to her dismay that her right arm was apparently wedged under something very warm and heavy.

Kim looked down curious as to what it could be and saw a noticeable lump under the blanket laying on top of the limb in question. Almost reflexively, Kim grabbed the edge of the blanket covering the lump and in a single swift motion pulled the cover completely off the bed and unveiled the foreign object. The curled up figure of a small dark haired girl was lying on Kim's arm and after the initial shock wore off Kim immediately recognized the girl as Agni.

Shego's daughter was in the fetal position breathing slowly and evenly, deep in slumber despite having lost the comfort of the blanket. The girl had shed her sweater and shoes, which were lying in a pile next to Kim's bed and now only wore a black tank top, her shorts, and black stockings. The girl's normally rude and abrasive attitude was not at all present when asleep and instead she seemed serene and almost peaceful. If it weren't for the green skin she could have been any normal girl. That image was extinguished when Kim freaked out at the sight and pulled her arm out from under the young girl, waking her with the sudden movement.

"Agni, what the hell are you doing in my **bed**?" Kim shouted eliciting a groan from the young girl. Agni rubbed her eyes and opened her left eye half way using it to scowl at the redhead.

"I was sleeping, that's what. At least I was before you decided to be rude."

_Rude! I'm the rude one? She snuck into my bed and she doesn't even live here! _Kim thought amazed at the girls nerve. The cheerleader took a deep breath to try to calm herself before looking down at Agni who had sat up and was rubbing her eyes.

"Seriously Agni, what are you doing here?" Asked Kim, in no mood to play games.

The girl frowned and looked away. Kim recognized the look from yesterday when she asked what her name was. Apparently that look meant that she was busy coming up with whatever answer was in her best interest. After a moments hesitation Agni looked up at the cheerleader.

"I'm hiding." She said frankly.

Kim blinked in surprise. In the back of her mind she complained that there was simply to many shocks happening that early in the morning. Most of the teen's enemies had the good graces to shock her after three pm. Half expecting to be ignored, Kim asked what was most on her mind, "Hiding from who?"

Agni sighed and slipped off the bed and began to pull on her sweater and shoes. Kim secretly wondered if she had been wearing that filthy outfit the entire trip, but figured that there were more pressing matters to investigate.

Agni turned to look at Kim and the older girl recognized the forced neutrality of her expression as one that had no place on a girl her age.

"My mom."

(Seven Hours Ago: Shego's Apartment)

When Agni first arrived at Shego's home, she had been as excited as a kid at Disney Land (not her mind you but your average child) and ran all over the apartment to get a rare feel for her mother's life. Whenever the two would exchange letters Shego made it a point to never go very deep into what went on with her personally. It was her way of keeping the girl from finding out where she was so that she couldn't run away to her like she had. Apparently Shego had greatly underestimated her daughter's tenacity.

Until now Agni didn't know where Shego lived, or even what she lived **in** whether it was a house or an apartment. Hell, for all that the girl knew Shego lived in an igloo deep in Alaskan tundra. That didn't mean however that her Mother didn't give exciting details into her professional life. Agni was always riveted by the older woman's detailed accounts of her past heists, the exotic places she visited and the dangerous people she had to deal with on a regular basis. Whenever a story involving her mother showed up on the news or Internet, Agni always got excited since it game substance to the larger than life accounts and made Shego feel closer to home. As far as the girl was concerned, it was better then being related to a celebrity would ever be.

It was great, all accept for the fact that she could never proudly state that she was that woman's daughter (as much as she would love to). It was around when she was four, and Shego left that her family began to insist that she act like she didn't know the woman around others. Agni wanted to ignore those instructions and would have, but when Shego was the one to ask, it was different. She made it seem so much more important.

When finishing her exploration of the older woman's living space Agni was surprised and somewhat disappointed by two things; The first thing that bothered her was that in her minds eye, whenever she thought about what Shego's home would look like she always thought it was decorated wall to wall with souvenirs of the green thief's past exploits, sort of like walking into a massive crime museum. What she found instead was a surprisingly Spartan environment. The walls were bare and the furniture was simple and practical rather than aesthetic. Aside from the kitchen, which was fully stocked with appliances and the living room, which had an admittedly impressive and up-to-date entertainment system, there was an almost sterile quality to the apartment. Anyone could have lived there with how impersonal it appeared.

The green girl quickly figured that it made sense, considering that her mother was probably all over the world most of the time and simply wasn't home enough to properly break in the place. _I guess it's cool to not bother with too much excessive junk. _Agni thought as she surveyed the room she was in.

The second problem was that it was of course a one-bedroom apartment, and a rather small one at that. There was just enough room for Shego to live comfortably by herself. However, along that same vein there would be no room at all for Agni if she wanted to stay. Regardless of this all-to-apparent fact the young girl did her best to remain optimistic. It was an alien thing for Agni to attempt considering her usually cynical attitude but she figured that when it came to her mother it was worth it.

_I don't take up much space; I could live on the couch…_

Agni looked up to see what her mom had been doing the whole time and after some quick searching found her in the kitchen downing a glass of water. There was an open bottle of aspirin in front of her on the kitchen counter. When Shego noticed Agni in the room with her she stopped what she was doing and put away the glass and the aspirin and turned to face her daughter. Her mother's troubled expression chilled the younger girl on the inside. If Shego told her she couldn't stay the young green girl wasn't sure what she would do.

Shego took a deep calming breath and then looked Agni in the eye. Her expression was that of stiff neutrality.

"Agni, why are you here?" Her voice was level but with the faintest hint of disapproval that to the young girls ears was loud as a warning klaxon.

"I-I told you why, mom. I-" Shego cut her off with a quick hand gesture.

"I know what you said but you're a smart girl. You know what I do and you know that I left you with your grandparents for a reason. I know that you wouldn't just forget all of that on a whim." She crossed her arms and leaned against the countertop.

Agni bit her lip to try to keep from frowning but failed. She didn't come on a whim she came out of desperation. Life at home was swiftly becoming unbearable and all she could see to make things better was the one woman she idolized. Her monthly correspondence with her mother had rapidly become the only thing she had to look forward to lately and in her admittedly naïve attempt at correcting the problem, every answer she came up with had the green woman right at the center. Now Agni was beginning to see that there was no way out.

"I just… Things are just re-really **hard**, y'know…" Agni managed as her voice began to choke up. With Shego across the kitchen rather then across three states keeping up her emotional walls was swiftly proving impossible, she was still a child after all. That aside, if she let even a single tear escape in front of the older woman Agni would **never** forgive herself.

_Don't you dare cry, you loser! _

Shego for her part kept still and tried her best to remain steady on the matter. However internally she could feel her heart being pulled in twain as she watched her daughter visibly keep from breaking down. She knew from her own experiences that their lives did not allow for much comfort. There were a lot of complications involved with being from not only a domineeringly unbearable household but also being green… whatever the hell they were. The word human didn't seem to apply to sometimes considering what they could do and that included Agni's uncles. In Shego's opinion her daughter had it much worse then she did. Shego had been changed on that fateful day when she was twelve, the age Agni was right now. Whereas the young girl was born that way and had to live with it since Day One while doing her best to try and hide it from others.

Had it been completely up to Shego she would never have left in the first place. Agni wouldn't need to wear that make up and Shego wouldn't have to live like she didn't know her own child. In the end though it wasn't exactly the older woman's choice. Yes, the final decision was hers to make but in her opinion that choice was a delusion at best. She simply wasn't equipped to raise the girl, both mentally or otherwise. She had already proven that.

_If I were a part of her life like she wanted Agni would be utterly miserable. I learn from my mistakes, and I do not intend repeat them…_ There were certain events in Shego's life that she simply refused to revisit even when by herself. Her reason for separating from Agni was one of them and would remain between her mother, herself and one more person who no longer had the capacity to talk about it. But that was in the past and it was going to stay there. All that mattered right then was for Shego to attend to the small girl trying to be so strong in front of her.

Shego walked up to Agni and kneeled on the floor so they were both eye level before pulling the small girl into a hug that she gratefully reciprocated, burying her face into the Thief's neck. For almost ten minutes the two simply basked in the closeness that past circumstances now denied them. Eventually Shego broke the silence.

"You should go to bed now. We'll talk more about this in the morning. I'll let you use my bed and I'll sleep on the couch."

Agni nodded too tired to protest, and not yet willing to let go of Shego but then pulled back her head to allow a yawn to escape. She really was pretty exhausted. During her entire trip she usually spent the night hiding in empty train cars or the backseat of parked automobiles, always making sure to wake up and vacate before first light. A quiet and uninterrupted sleep was all she could think of right now. Shego stood up and took the young girls hand leading her to the bedroom. The older woman was amused to see the young girl fall into a deep unconsciousness before her head even hit the pillow.

(Four Hours Ago: Shego's Apartment)

Shego had decided earlier that night to make a phone call while Agni was asleep but seemed to have forgotten something about the little green-skinned preteen when she put her to bed. As a benefit from their unusual physiologies neither she nor Shego ever needed more than four or five hours of sleep a night. Her grandmother once told her that that fact made taking care of her while she was a baby absolutely unbearable, and only Shego seemed to be able to do it since the two shared the same sleep habits.

Agni woke up with a start to the sound of raised voices later that night. For a moment, Agni thought she had imagined the loud voice she heard, like the temporary holdover from some nightmare. However that theory was dashed against the wall when she heard it again. From what she could tell her mother was on the phone with someone and certainly not sounding pleased.

"-And you've got a lot of nerve saying that to me considering you're the one she ran away from!" Shego shouted into the receiver. It didn't take a genius to figure out whom Shego was shouting at. As far as Agni could remember, Shego and her grandmother always got into the worst arguments and the young girl was usually the subject matter at hand.

_I'm not surprised she called here. At least Gram knows her number. _Agni thought incorrectly. In fact it had been Shego who made the call that she was currently regretting. Not even her mother knew her apartment number.

"I didn't take her, I've said that three times already! Maybe you could hear me if you're ears weren't already clogged by your **massive ego**!" Now fully awake Agni stealthily snuck from the bedroom and peeked around the corner. The young girl saw Shego looking down at the phone receiver in her hands and debating the merits of smashing it to bits. After a moment she put the device back to her ear.

_Yeah, that's Gram alright. Only she could ever get to Mom like that._

"Y'know, maybe this wouldn't happen if I could visit her every now and th-" there was an abrupt pause during which Shego's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You really are an idiot if you think for one second that I'm going to stop writing her."

Agni winced and took a step forward to try to hear some of her grandmother's side of the conversation. It was no secret that her Gram didn't like that they kept in regular contact. Not that it had ever stopped her…

"Yeah… yeah I told you already that I'm taking her back first thing in the morning… listen-," There was a pause during which the expression on Shego's face didn't hide that she wasn't happy with what she was hearing. "-No, **you** listen! The reason you take care of her, the **ONLY** reason is because I agreed to **let **you. When I say that I could just as easily **not** let you, I hope you understand what I mean." There was another long pause.

"Hah, child services. And that means shit to me, why? You're the one that keeps rubbing my job in my face so you should know that I could give a damn about laws."

Shego sighed and leaned back against the wall dangling the phone at her side to calm down since her right hand had begun to take on a slight glow. She felt tired and drained. She brought the receiver back to her mouth. "Yeah… Like I said; tomorrow morning." She hung up the phone without another word and leaned against the wall with her eyes shut tight.

_Well, that's it._ Agni thought and her chest tensed up. _I guess she's made up her mind._ She shook her head and quickly darted off back to her room. _Well I certainly have too!_ The young girl quickly pulled on her shoes and sweater. Going to Shego's had been an exercise in desperation and fully admitted need for a place to be accepted. However, that did not mean that Agni had exhausted all of her options. There was one more thing she could do and it was in fact the easiest option at her disposal since it didn't rely on any others. She quietly slid opened the bedroom window and started on her way down to the streets.

_I'll run away and live on my own. It's either that or Mom._ Going back home never even entered into the equation.

(Kim's Room: Current Time)

"What? Why did you run from Shego?" Kim's voice cut through Agni's inner reverie and the young girl looked up sharply, frowning. The girl shrugged and started walking towards the window.

"She and me had different ideas is all."

It didn't take a rocket scientist for Kim to know what the young girl was referring to (and she would know since her dad was a rocket scientist). Shego had told her that she was going to take Agni back home the day before, and apparently when Agni found out she wasn't too fond of that plan. That didn't however; explain why the girl was in Kim's room now.

"Even if that was the case, why were you **sleeping** in my **bed**?" Kim almost shouted remembering the shock brought on by the scene. Agni leaned against the window and gave the older girl a somewhat apologetic look. The look was only somewhat apologetic because it was obvious that the green girl tried to hide the expression.

"Well, my mom's a pretty great tracker. Really, but I bet you knew that already." Kim hadn't in fact since it never came up, but she figured that to do what that woman did for a living, being able to find people was certainly a must which made sense since tracking was one of Kim's many skills as well.

"I needed to go somewhere she wouldn't look and this was all I could think of." Agni stated which wasn't entirely true. She doubted that Shego would ever think to look for the girl back home, but hiding there defeated the purpose of running away in the first place.

Agni rubbed the back of her head while breaking eye contact. "I was pretty beat when I finally got here and the bed was right there so…" Kim frowned and crossed her arms.

"So you just crawled right on in? You can't just sneak in bed with a person and think they'll be okay with it!"

Agni shot her a surprisingly defiant look and matched Kim's pose. "Well I didn't think you minded considering the minute I got under the covers you pulled me close and called me "Pandaroo"!" Agni shuddered. Her mom's arch foe was into Cuddle Buddies. It was enough to make her flesh want to crawl off.

Kim's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates before she recovered enough to shout, "I did not!" He looked on the bed to see if her precious stuffed animal was anywhere and saw part of it poking out from under the mattress frame. She hoped Agni didn't see it and tell Shego or she would never be able to live it down. Kim quickly averted her gaze from the incriminating plushy and turned her attention back to the rude and audacious twelve-year-old.

Agni had the decency to cut down on her self-righteousness by a narrow margin and cut the flustered hero some slack. She turned and began to open Kim's window before Kim noticed and halted her actions by placing a firm hand on the girls shoulder.

"Where do you think your going?"

Agni whipped around and knocked the girls hand off her shoulder. "Out, this was just a pit stop anyway." She honestly had no idea where she was headed but that didn't matter. Her bank account was full and would afford her all the money she needed to get by. She was also relatively confident that she could take care of herself even without money, but the more she thought about it the more that confidence began to slip away.

Kim for her part wasn't sure why Agni was so hell bent on not returning to Go, but as it stood asking would be pointless. She could almost hear the girl snap back at her, "Mind your own damn business!" without Kim even needing to bring it up. One thing the redhead was sure of though was that she couldn't let the girl just disappear. Sure she seemed pretty resourceful especially for her age, but she was a minor. She probably still hadn't hit puberty yet and she just wanted to run off.

"I can't let you just go on you own." Kim said resolutely. Agni just smirked.

"Then stop me." And almost faster then Kim could blink she leapt out the window.

_Oh if that's how it's gonna be…_

Agni tucked and landed in a roll, controlling the spin so that she ended up on her feet with no wasted motion before she was off like a rocket. Ducking and swerving behind houses and tree an onlooker would have thought that she had run that route her entire life rather then just improvised it on the fly. She smirked as she ran.

_Mom gives that ditz way too much credit. _The twelve-year-old thought snickering, but the expression soon formed into a grimace. Thinking about Shego suddenly ruined her good mood and made her stomach twist. She would have liked nothing more then to run back to the woman, but she wasn't about to forget how it was made perfectly clear that Shego couldn't keep her. It was a pretty morbid turn of fate, the girl thought; the person who wanted her didn't like her, and the person who liked her couldn't keep her. Lost within herself she didn't notice the obstruction in the road and crashed hard into something soft before falling back on her behind.

Agni rubbed her sore nose and looked up to see what she had smashed face first into only to be greeted by the smug grin of her mom's archenemy. Kim had her hands on her hips and looked down at the girl like a cat cornering a mouse. Mostly Kim was just smug that she had shown the girl that while the twelve year old had definite inherent skill, compared to Kim she was a rank amateur. She figured that Agni could use for a dose of much needed humility.

Agni for her part couldn't believe that the teen (that as far as she was concerned didn't even belong in the same room as her mother) managed to both track and outrun her so effortlessly. Undeterred the girl launched herself backwards and ran the opposite way only to once again be met with the smiling redhead. Luckily, the second time Agni was on alert so she knew when to stop without hitting the hero.

"Going somewhere?" The cheerleader asked coyly.

Agni was becoming more then a little frustrated and decided that if the girl wasn't going to let her leave in peace, then leaving in peace she would not do. Kim took a reflexive step back in surprise when a kick aimed for her face (but would likely have hit her chest) lashed out to connect. Kim's arm shot forward and grabbed the offending limb around the ankle but had to bring up her other arm to block when Angi twisted her weight around and kicked out with her free leg, hoping if nothing else to free herself. Kim almost casually blocked the other kick with her forearm and snagging the opportunity twisted her arm around and caught the girl by her other ankle. This resulted in a scene involving the cheerleader holding the now very angry young girl upside-down looking up at her in utter fury.

"Put me down, Loser!" She shouted with fire in her emerald eyes.

_I wonder what this girl was like for her babysitters._ Kim thought bemused by an attack on her person by such a young girl. She was about to ask Agni if she had given up when she saw that the girl was just looking up at her and had stopped struggling. The redhead reflexively loosened her grip, as she was about to ask but seemed to forget exactly whose child she was dealing with. Both of the girl's hands flared up suddenly with frightful swirling green light and she swiped forwards with her tiny-clawed hands causing Kim to drop her.

_I guess that answers my question as to how much she took from her mom's side._

Kim casually sidestepped the slashing torches at the end of the young girls arms with practiced ease. She wasn't even working up a sweat and her hands even behind her back as she continued to dodge the attack.

_Okay, I admit it. She is pretty good. But I bet my Mom could still kick the crap out of her._

But Agni, however, was obviously tiring herself out as she slashed forward relentlessly. After about ten minutes Kim saw a perfect opening and darted forward, leaping behind the girl and snatching her by her forearms in a tight hold. At first Agni struggled against Kim's grip like an animal caught in a bear trap but after awhile she gave up and lay still, tired and resigned to her defeat and the hands of the older and far more experienced opponent.

"Have you calmed down?" Kim asked waiting for when she could let go of the girl without her running off.

"…Yeah." Agni said sounding as beat as she felt.

"Spankin."

Kim let go and took a step back, ready to spring forward if the girl ran off again. Much to her relief, Agni didn't but she also didn't turn around to face her. It was odd but it was like Kim had broken the girl's spirit. She hadn't in fact but Agni was simply dreading hearing that she would be sent back home. The green-eyed girl knew that if she tried to run off again she would probably be caught the same way.

Kim reached down and took the girl by the hand, and she was surprised when she wasn't shrugged off. Agni remained silent the whole time as they made there way back to Kim's home. As they walked, Kim kept stealing glances her way.

I know she doesn't want to go back, but she has to. I mean her grandparents are probably totally worried about her. Something about Kim's inherent need to help kept tugging at her from within; she simply couldn't let things just fizzle out like this. The way Agni was acting, it was as if Kim was leading her to her execution. As far as the redhead was concerned, there were no correct answers to this problem, just okay ones.

_Maybe_, she thought, _If I could just figure out why she doesn't want to go back, I could help her fix it…_ She knew she was being optimistic but it was her way. When they were in front of Kim's home, Kim kneeled in front of the girl and looked her in the eye.

"You really don't want to go home, right." It wasn't a question.

Agni just shook her head.

After some thought as to what she would say Kim looked over Agni. "Maybe… maybe I can help. I am known to do that after all." The young girl looked up at her and cocked her eyebrow.

"You can stay here for today and get cleaned up first and then, if you'll let me, we can figure something out." Kim saw Agni look away but she didn't seem to be dismissing the assistance outright. After awhile she nodded.

"Sure… " To Agni, she was just buying herself some more time anyway. If the do-gooder thought she could fix her problem then there was no reason to try and stop her. As far as Agni was concerned she needed all the help she could get. Kim smiled at the small progress made and felt for the first time that day that things were starting to settle down.

She should have known better by now.

Chapter 3: End


	4. Reflection

Your standard legal disclaimer thing: I don't own Kim Possible. I will remove this story off the net if they give me shit. Blah blah blah, yada yada yada. You all know the drill by now.

Small Surprises, Big Consequences

Chapter 4: Reflection

_I can't believe that I was caught so easily by that redheaded ditz! _Agni fumed, her mood even hotter then the steaming water poured down over her. When they returned to the older woman's home Kim had insisted that Agni take a shower while she wash her well worn clothes and Agni gratefully accepted, at least she was grateful on the inside, on the outside she just sneered and headed off to the bathroom. _She said she would try to help me, but somehow… she seems ill equipped to the task. There is only one thing I want, to be away from that stupid school and that f'ed up family! _Ideally, that would have meant living with her mother, but to Agni, anywhere else was acceptable to, anywhere that wasn't Go City at least.

The green girl leaned back and sighed as she scoured her self clean with the roughest sponge she could find. Whenever possible Agni preferred to be cleanly, and took the time to keep up appearances, however, she always tried to be out of the shower as quickly as possible. Ever since she could remember she never was able to relax under water and as far as she was concerned it was simply not her element. Agni usually chalked it up to some inborn instinct resulting from her powers. To compensate, Agni always made sure to turn the shower nozzle on its highest setting, the hotter it was, the more bearable. To anyone else the water would have been scalding, dangerously so, but thanks to that meteor, Agni had a heat coursing throughout her insides that made anything a showerhead could spit out laughable in comparison. She did her best thinking in the heat.

_Kim Possible, the teenage cheerleader hero, and the one my mom's been butting heads with for at least three years now… I **hate** her! Why does she have to act so damn confident? What the hell does she know anyway, about my problems, about my mom, or about anything? She's just arrogant because she's been lucky so far and she has a nice home and a nice family. And she goes to a public school! Does she have **any** idea what I'd give to get out of that hellhole?_

A thin aura of green energy had begun to form around the girl's hands as she thought about it but she quickly noticed and suppressed the light before anything regrettable happened. Agni bit her lip before she lost her bearings and blew up all over the shower. The term "fiery temper" had totally different meanings when one could actually accompany their temper **with** fire. She took several deep breaths until she managed to calm down. She certainly didn't want to explain to Kim why her shower had been reduced to charred slag, that would have been somewhat embarrassing to say the least and she would probably have to have apologized (god forbid).

Anytime the thief's daughter thought about her school it put her in a raging foul mood. Agni knew that had it not been for her mother's sizable donation she could bet that that elitist spoiled-brat institution would have turned her away at the front gate. The teachers and the students all seemed to know from day one that she didn't belong with them and they made it clear from day one that she wasn't welcome among them. The attitudes of the faculty and students were made doubly worse when they realized that the girl in their care was simply not the type to sit there and take such abuse without gross repercussions. On top of that, every time she did lash out in her own defense the teachers would cause her no end of grief by getting her home involved as well.

Being pinched between her family and her school was, as far as the young girl was concerned, the ninth circle of hell. People who didn't seem to even try to understand what she was dealing with left her with no escape and crushed their values down upon her. She hissed and shook her head.

_Just like before I left…_

(Go Academy for Gifted Women: Seven Days Ago)

Agni slammed her locker shut with a barely suppressed screech. She then whipped around and turned her burning emerald eyes on the entire crowd in the hallway accusingly. Most students backed away in well-established fear, but some were stupid or arrogant and returned the expression in kind or the best equivalent expression they could manage. Matching one of Agni's glares was usually a feat in itself. She began to rifle through her backpack and her pockets desperately in search of something, but always coming up empty.

_Where is it? Where the hell could it be? I checked three friggin times to see that I had it in my locker after three different periods and it was always there, so where is it **now**?_ Her eyes darted from face to face as different girls and faculty passed her by.

The "it" in question was a very large and very important midterm history assignment. On it's own, the project would be the deciding factor of Agni's semester grade, and it was in her weakest subject by far, history. On top of that, the teacher in that class, a one Mrs. Turler, had it in for Agni the moment she laid eyes on the girl months ago and it showed as an obvious bias in her grading. If Agni turned in B-level work she was sure to get a low C at best for her troubles and that was on a good day. These factors on top of Agni's poor grasp on the subject in general have caused her grades in that class to plummet. By herself, Mrs. Turler would have been more bearable if she was one of a kind, but it seemed that with the exception of maybe two other faculty members (one being the janitor) Agni was never looked on very well.

The reason was simple enough, Agni's less than impressive family credentials aside; most of the teachers had a way of culling and killing the spirits of the students for even the slightest infractions. A girl once arrived to class a minute late, and her teacher at the time didn't stop reprimanding her in front of the entire class until she burst into tears. The teachers would be remarkably personal while doing so. They called it "negative reinforcement", Agni called it bullying and she refused to be subject to it. Most teachers had learned a long time ago that the quickest way to a kicked in kneecap was insulting the young girl's upbringing.

However, compared to her other problem, the staff was the least of Agni's worries. The students were far more vicious and in far greater number. The stuck-up rich brats were quite simply unbearable. They all came from prestigious families with millions to burn and they thought that because of their money they were above the common masses. Agni's mere presence seemed to show up in their predatory vision like she was a piece of choice meat. If it wasn't her family's complete lack of social status above middle-class then it was the fact that she had such pasty white skin from that gross makeup she needed to slather on every exposed surface of her body. Ever since she was four, her Grandmother would make her wear the awful stuff even though it choked her pores and made her itch terribly. Sometimes she entertained the fantasy of simply not wearing it one day to see if the students would manage to treat her even worse. She honestly doubted it.

Looking back on it, what really pissed the green girl off was all the time she had wasted trying to win some of them over, to avoid feeling so damn alone all the time. For the first couple of years she had done her best, being as polite as possible, giving what she felt she had too, asking if she could join in with other groups at lunch, and so forth. The sick thing was that the evil little debutants always pretended to be so accepting and polite, getting little Agni to lower her guard and then once things seemed to be going the emerald-eyed girl's way, they would crush her down in some humiliating scenario, always with as many witnesses as physically manageable.

It was by forth grade that Agni decided that enough was enough, and then declared open war on any and all of them. She didn't care much for their way of doing things though. If Agni wanted to she could have planned something out that would have put their humiliating little schemes to shame, but she lacked the patience for such a thing. No, all she cared to do was the oldest, simplest, most direct form of retaliation in known history, violence. The prim and proper rich girls quickly learned to back off for the most part when they realized that a smart comment earned them a black eye. It was very much in Agni's favor that they had a very low pain tolerance.

Most learned early that the thief's daughter was by no means and easy target anymore, but for others however, it simply fed a flame of hate that was already there. There were certain girls in the school that felt personally insulted by Agni's very presence and decided that it was there duty to crush her down despite the new inherent risks. Those girls played mean and didn't pull their punches when it came to ruining Agni's life and the teachers always seemed to act in those girl' favor. Finding her report missing from her locker practically screamed of that crowd's dirty work.

_Was it Angela? She had as good a reason as any; I did break her nose, not that she won't have her daddy buy her a new one… Rebecca? Hmm… naw, she's a coward and so is Angela for that matter. How the hell did they even get my combo?_ If she didn't find where her paper was soon, Agni was loath thinking what may occur. She began to retrace her steps but something on the tile floor suddenly caught her attention. The object in question was a torn up slip of paper roughly the size of a credit card. She reached down to pick it up and get a closer look and to banish the cold chill running up her spine. It was frayed around the edges to show it had been ripped off a larger sheet; the typeface words formed her name and bits and pieces of her written work. Several more pieces dangled from the sides of a wastepaper bin.

Agni's eyes widened in horror, and for a moment she felt faint. Whoever had taken her paper had torn it to shreds. The paper was due in five minutes and she needed, absolutely needed to turn it in to Mrs. Turler by the beginning of the period. The nasty old bitch would never accept anything late from her, even with a good excuse. She doubted it, but she would need to go up to Mrs. Turler to beg and humble herself and maybe, in a one in a billion chance, the gorgon might concede to wait a while longer for Agni to reprint it.

Agni bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. She knew that something like this would happen, this always happened. No one at this god forsaken retched place would ever give her a break and just leave her alone. She understood after awhile that she would make no friends there, so she learned to keep to herself, however that didn't stop them from doing their level best to break her regardless, even now. Reflexively her fist flew out and put a dent in her locker door. _Dammit!_ She then turned like a man being led to the gallows and marched forth towards the classroom.

It was early before the bell as Agni made her way into Turler's office. All the other students were probably situated throughout the canteen so she'd have some blessed privacy as she prostrated herself before this harpy. As usual, Mrs. Turler was focused on some trashy paperback romance. _Probably to escape from her crappy marriage I hope._ Agni cleared her throat to alert the woman that she was no longer alone in the room. Turler quickly turned her age worn face in the young girl's direction. The older woman's thin eyes narrowed behind her tacky horn-rimmed reading glasses.

"Miss. Drago, you need something?" Her voice dripped acid. This wasn't going to go well.

"Um, yes Mrs. Turler. It's about the midterm assignment-"

"The one due in fifteen minutes with **no** exceptions, that midterm?" Turler asked cutting Agni off. The girl winced internally.

"Yeah, that one," She looked down at her feet, "Something happened and it's been, um…"

The teacher interlaced her fingers together in her lap and looked down at Agni with obvious bemusement. "It's been what?" _This bitch knows what I'm trying to say, she just wants me to say it. She's actually enjoying this! _Agni unconsciously reopened the wound on her inner lip.

"I just… lost it. Um, but listen I've got it all saved, I swear! So if you just let me reprint it I can…" She stopped when she saw the look she was receiving.

"Miss. Drago, you know my policy on late assignments. I have a zero tolerance for tardiness." Agni could swear that she heard Turler think the words, _And I have an even lower tolerance for **you**_, but she chalked it up to healthy paranoia. She resisted the urge to slap her cheeks to clear her thoughts.

"I-I mean my assignment was destroyed after I brought it here ma'am! I promise it won't take me more than an hour to get you a new copy!"

The older woman didn't quite smirk but her eyes certainly did. "But Miss. Drago, you don't have an hour, as I said earlier. You have fifteen-"she looked up at the clock and shook her head, "I'm sorry I mean **thirteen** minutes before class begins."

Agni tried to keep from grimacing. "But ma'am I-"

"I suppose you'll simply have to accept a zero." For a moment Agni thought the old woman was about to laugh. She doubted she would be able to resist setting the bitch's desk on fire if she did. Turler however was not finished. "There is a lesson here for you to learn from. Be more careful with your things." She settled back in and turned to her abandoned novel.

_BITCH! I-I could just- **ARGH**!!!_ Agni couldn't even think straight she was so angry. Someone needed to pay, and pay dearly or so help her she would lose her mind. It took all of her strength to keep from flaring up her hands and throwing her teacher through the window. However, a stray thought cut her anger out from under her.

_Oh my god, Grandma's gonna kill me!_

When Agni thought about what her report card was going to look like she thought she might throw up. She honestly did not want to know what her Grandmother might think when she laid eyes on it. As far as Agni was concerned, that woman was easily the most terrifying person she ever met. Something about her eyes was simply less then human, more like something that escaped from a nightmare. Now, Gram Roza had never laid a hand on her to be sure, but something told the pale-green girl that if she ever did her head would land somewhere separate from her body. Anyone that commanded as much fear as Roza Drago was not someone to be trifled with.

As bad as this school could be, her home was even worse. It was almost like being grounded for her entire life. Agni was almost never allowed to leave, and her Uncle Hego was always forced to baby-sit her like she couldn't take care of herself. The big blue idiot acted like she was a Molotov cocktail just waiting to burst all over his face. It seemed like it was all one big calculated attempt to make sure the young girl didn't end up like "that black stain on their family" as Gram Roza liked to put it.

Agni's internal reverie was cut off when she heard muffled laughter from the hallway. She looked out and slowly eased her way out the door. While she was never allowed to leave in her house in theory, that didn't stop the girl from constantly sneaking out whenever the mood struck. It took her years of trial and error, always getting caught and punished but by the age of twelve Agni could out sneak a ninja. To the group laughing outside she may as well have teleported over.

"Care to share what's so funny?"

The group was mostly several peons of minor note, but the girl standing in their center was the one she spoke directly to. Her name was Cassandra, and somewhere in there five years of knowing one another, the brown haired debutant had made it her sworn duty to drag Agni through every humiliating, painful, and often debilitating scheme she could imagine in that warped mind of hers. It didn't help matters that she was as brilliant as she was sadistic and always treated Agni like she was her personal plaything. Despite the numerous black eyes and broken noses the brunette put her through.

Cassandra turned suddenly when she saw Agni standing over her but quickly resumed her cool. "What's funny? Nothing, Agni dear, nothing comes to mind." Agni hated that, that sickeningly sweet and friendly voice the girl always used. It worked to win over everyone but her. Well that wasn't exactly true, it had worked on her at first but after the milk-carton incident she had learned better.

Cassandra looked over at the flunkies surrounding her. "We were just discussing what we thought we would get on _midterms_…" Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "I'll be getting an A of course, what about you, Agni dear? I'm sure you'll be doing _very_ well."

Agni's lips pulled into a strained grin, and she uncrossed her arms. "Well, since you asked so nicely Cassi, I think I'll be getting a big fat _**F**_. You see, someone got into my locker by probably bribing some teacher, and then they took my completed assignment and tore it to bits so that the Turler could flunk me like she's always wanted to. You know, your favorite teacher?"

Cassandra laughed lightly with her hand over her mouth. "My you spin such interesting tales, Agni dear." She smirked. "So tell me, who pray tell perpetrated such a dastardly plot?"

Agni stepped back and shrugged. "No idea, but when I figure it out I intend to do something like-" She rushed forward and slammed Cassandra against one of the lockers as hard as she could with her fingers crunching down on the other girls shoulders, "-_**this**_!" Her accomplices took that as their cue to run. They learned long ago not to act against the pale girl while she was in a violent mood.

Cassandra gritted her teeth in pain but wouldn't allow Agni the benefit of a scream. "T-tell me, Agni dear," she asked grimacing in pain, "I heard that your parents were serial killers and that's why you live with relatives-" She was cut off as Agni's grip tightened but then continued despite. "It made too much sense for me not to ask, you see?"

Agni got right in Cassandra's face so there was barely three inches between their faces. Her voice was barely above a whisper but the prone girl heard her loud and clear. "My parents are off limits, Cassi **dear**. I've been pulling my punches since you're as fragile as a tissue but get in my face _**ever** _again," Her voice lowered to barely above a faint hiss," and I. Will. Hurt. You." The brown haired girl only smiled.

Agni looked over when she saw Cassandra's flunkies and a teacher running towards them. Being in no mood to deal with schools idea of discipline she let go of Cassandra's shoulders, before bolting down the hallway like a rocket and disappeared from sight around the corner. When the teacher finally arrived around the bend to retrieve the girl, she was nowhere in sight.

(Outside a moment later)

Agni landed hard on the ground, having used the ivy coating the side of the building to scale down from the window to a safe distance before landing on her feet. It was not the first time she decided to simply cut and run when things got too overwhelming. Agni couldn't think of a single reason to stay any longer considering she only showed up in the first place to turn in her paper and that turned out to be a useless gesture.

She decided it was a good time to end her school day and walked over to the rock where she hid her spare clothes for just such an occasion. Her uniform stuck out like a sore thumb when worn in the middle of the street. When she reached over to grab her sweatshirt she noticed something red on her fingertips. The pale girl angled her hand up to look and she saw what looked like tiny blood stains on most of her claws. Agni frowned, and tongued the cut in her lip. She hadn't meant to grab on to Cassandra that hard, knowing that she drew blood troubled her. It wasn't that she hurt Cassandra, but that she lost control that bothered her. A shiner was one thing but Agni never used her powers in front of people and she included her claws among them. It was easy to forget how hard and sharp her nails were.

_Why does she keep trying to crush me, when she knows what that will entail? She always acts like it doesn't matter that I'll hurt her. Sometimes I think she enjoys it._

Every now and then Agni acknowledged her tendency to lose her temper and go overboard. She made an honest attempt to keep from doing that, but it was so hard at times. When things were at their worst she could feel the energy coursing through her veins just begging to be released. Sometimes it almost ached. If Agni wasn't careful she knew that she could easily kill someone by accident. Frankly, she wondered how her mother managed to attack with her power on full and at the same time avoid fatalities.

Shaking her head, Agni wiped her hands off on her uniform and pulled on her favorite black sweatshirt. She had no intention of going home until at least eight since her Grandparents had undoubtedly received a call from the school by now. She would wait until the last minute to deal with them. Until then she would probably waste her time in the mall arcade. It was her usual relaxation spot and the usual patrons knew not to trouble her. She stood and quickly bolted off as she heard the grounds security approach.

(Present)

Agni frowned and leaned her forehead against the wall beneath the showerhead letting the scalding fluid pour over her head and wash away the shampoo in her hair. _And that was just one day. They're all pretty much like that, not that it matters anymore. I wont be going back there! _She made a fist as she steeled her resolve on the matter. Her claws dug into her palms. For all of her assuredness however she couldn't think of what to do about the problem at hand.

Agni doubted Kim Possible had any intention of actually helping her, she probably just said that to calm the pale girl down. If anything, she would probably nod her head sympathetically, give her some empty pep talk and then send her home to the wolves. _Well screw that, the moment I get a chance I am so gone. _She reached over and turned the nozzle until the water pouring from the showerhead tapered off.

_I'll see what Kim's selling but I don't intend to buy._

Chapter 4: End

Authors Notes: I'm very sorry this chapter was so long in coming. I've had computer troubles and writing this story is very difficult. It's taking a lot of time to map out where to get it to where I want to go, which is why this chapter was basically one giant intermission. Next time will focus on Shego and Kim's problems (of which there will be many).


	5. Nightmare

Your standard legal disclaimer thing: I don't own Kim Possible. I will remove this story off the net if they give me shit. Blah blah blah, yada yada yada. You all know the drill by now.

Small Surprises, Big Consequences

Chapter 5: Nightmare

(Somewhere, Nowhere)

Rain fell in sheets from below the ash-gray clouds and hard onto the busy city. At that late hour, and under those harsh conditions most who were sensible were either asleep within the comfort of their homes or among the company of others within those dark corners of the city that knew no rest. Thunder echoed throughout the heavens, and lightning illuminated the streets to reveal a young figure in clashing black and green as she ran oblivious to the hazardous weather towards an over arching dark and monolithic piece of architecture. When confronted with the barrier the locked entryway provided she didn't even break her stride as she decimated the obstructive object with a flash of emerald power.

The only sound echoing throughout the unfinished skyscraper to be heard beyond the heavy sound of rainfall was the light footfalls of the spry eighteen-year-old as she ran for her life. Like a bullet she moved up and around the stone steps, through the gaping holes in the unfinished brick walls and underneath the ceiling of unfixed girders. No matter how cluttered her path, she never slowed down once. All the while she consciously jumped over and avoided every twisting and writhing shadow along the ground. Any and all darkened corners of the building seemed to be stretching and reaching out thin inky black claws, all with malevolent intent. From this active darkness a quiet hiss of a voice echoed out from the living night that was trying to swallow the teenage hero.

_HUUUUURRRRRYYYY, MMMSSS. SSSSSHHHHHEEEEEGGGGOOOOO…_ The voice was soothing and smooth like silk and honey, but drawn out unnaturally like a snake's hiss. _I'MMM LOOOOSSSSIIIINNNGGG MYYY PAAAATTTIIIEEEENNNCCCEEE…_

Shego hissed through her teeth and picked up her already astonishing pace. Her goal was clear as she ran up and up and up towards the still darkness of the unfinished overarching roof. Even within the confined space, rain continued to fall within from every exposed opening intermingling and mixing with the sweat on the young woman's brow. Sweat formed out of fear born not from self-preservation but of great concern for another.

_IIII"MMMM GLLLLLAAAAADDD YYYOOOUUUU CAAAAMMME ALLOOOOONNE LLIIIKKKEEE III ASSSSKED, MSSS. SSSSSHHHHHEEEEEGGGGGOOOOO…_ A rough and sickening snort of a laugh resounded off the walls._ YYYYOOOUUUURRR BBBRRROOOTTTHHHEEERRRSSS WEEERRRNNN'TTT IINNNVVVIIITTTEEEDDD AAAFFFTTTEEERRR AAALLL…_

Shego growled and lit up both of her hands as she jumped between a gap separating two sections of floor. The bright green light forced all the closest shadows to back away with an almost audible screech. She shouted at the surrounding darkness as she made her way upward.

"If I see even a scratch on her, I'll make you wish you killed yourself long before I get up there! Do you hear me, Bogeyman, you freak?"

Suddenly the voice lost all its jubilation and settled into a more vicious hiss, promising violence. _IIIII'MMMM GOOOOOIIIINNNGGGG TOOOOO **KKIIIIILLLLLLL**_ _HHHEEERRRRR, IIIFFF YYYOOOUUU DOOOONNNN'TTT HUUURRRYYY…_

Shego bit her lip and continued her rush upwards, ignoring the mocking hiss bouncing off the walls around her, and the metal underneath her. Thin nightmarish tendrils of inky blackness followed just behind her every footstep held at bay only by her burning green power. When she finally reached the roof, she lunged forward and was faced with her enemy and her goal.

The villainous thing named Bogeyman stood on the end of an exposed girder sticking upward from the unfinished rooftop; it was currently the highest point in the building. Tall twisting and arching shadows like sable flame rose up from the floor twisting around him. What had the teen's undivided attention, however, was that the dark thing's hand was wrapped securely around a tiny green throat. Gleaming black claws orbited mere inches above a head of short black hair. Bogeyman looked up at Shego with his expression hidden behind a featureless ivory-white mask which stood in stark contrast to his jet-black attire. When he spoke, gone was the soothing and calm hiss, replaced by a synthetic rasp.

"I'm glad you could make it Ms. Shego because I'm about to kill your daughter. A mother should always be present for all the big events in her child's life, don't you agree?"

"Give her to me. **Now**." Her voice was quiet, barely loud enough to hear above the din of the storm, but it spoke volumes of a rage she was physically incapable of expressing due to its sheer magnitude.

In response the grip around the tiny throat tightened just enough for the teen to pale and take a step back. The soft voice spoke out.

"I don't like your tone." He looked down at the tiny unconscious figure in his dark arms. "She looks so much like her mother… You must be so proud. I wonder who the father is…" He shook his head, "Actually I could care less." He cast the girl one last look and sighed with an orgasmic glee which caused Shego to tense up involuntarily.

"She's so young, so untainted." He looked back up at the hero. "Watching her die… it would be such _art_."

Shego's face contorted in fiery demonic rage at his words. Her powers flared up momentarily and lit the darkened sky like a flare. "If you don't put her down **right now**, I swear to god, I'll-"Her words were cut off when she saw him drag his right thumbs claw across the girl's right cheek, leaving a line of dripping green in its wake. Shego's breath caught in her throat

"Did I get your full and undivided attention? Good. **I** have the hostage, **I** have the power, and **I** am the one who says what happens from here." He smirked when she swallowed nervously and took a step back.

She lowered her head, her bangs hiding her expression. "W-what do you want then?"

The thing "tsked" and shook his head. "You _know_ what this is all about, Ms. Shego. You and your brothers _insulted_ me, _ruined_ my reputation, and injured my career. Repercussions _must_ be exacted." He looked up at her. "You in particular fouled it all up. That's why I must make an example of you."

"You're sick."

"And pissed, very bad combination, don't you agree?"

He added a new cut to the girl's forehead leading down across the previous cut on her cheek forming a misshapen neon-green 'X'. Shego roared out and ran forward with the green aura around her hands erupting like small magma founts. The metal around them began to warp and drip from the shear heat, and the living shadows surrounding them screamed out and retreated. When the green hero was mere moments away from tearing the monstrous freak in twain he gave an exaggerated sigh and held up the child so she was in the path of her mother's irate assault. At the last second before he burning claws were about to rip into the thing's face she saw the girl directly in front of her attack and quickly stopped herself and remembered the position she was in.

It was a horrible hopeless feeling, seeing the one person she loved in the hands of a monster, and there was nothing she could do about it. It was Shego's first true taste of despair. All she could do was watch him hurt the child, and hurt Shego by proxy. What was the worst thing though was as psychotic as he was, Bogeyman was not stupid. He'd leave her no openings to exploit, no chance to save her four-year-old.

"Such impressive restraint," Bogeyman exclaimed proudly. "For a moment I thought you cared more about hurting me than saving her." He shrugged, "Let's see if that's the case, shall we?" In a single motion, Bogeyman shifted the position of the child in his arms, and held her by the throat over the edge of the fifty story building. The hero felt her heart turn to stone in her chest.

"_DON'T_!"

"Make your choice, Ms. Shego, her or me?" He laughed. "I'll make it an easy one." Without hesitation he loosened his grip, and the pale girl fell just as Shego began to scream out in protest. Without pause, she ran forward and vaulted over the edge of the roof, completely ignorant of her own wellbeing. All she was capable of thinking of or perceiving was the small figure rushing quickly towards the hard and unyielding street.

Shego stretched her arms forward as she fell, reaching as hard as she could for the falling girl. Second after second she began to close the gap between them. Her clawed finger tips were soon less than an inch away. For a moment she felt hope, as her fingers glanced against the falling body. However, just as suddenly that hope was dashed into pure despair as a thin limb shot from the shadows next to her descending form and wrapped tightly around her ankle. The tiny body fell well beyond her grip and rushed downward towards the streets below.

"Choke on your hubris as you WATCH HER **DIE**!"

(Now: Shego's apartment)

"Agni!"

Suddenly Shego shot up in her bed with sweat pouring down her face only to remember that she was back within the safe confines of her apartment. The pale woman couldn't stop hyperventilating at the crystal clear memory left over from her nightmare. Her heart was smashing hard within her chest like a church bell, and she could feel goose bumps rise all over her skin.

_It's okay! Everything's okay! Agni's fine and __**he**__'s gone for good. Believe it, Shego!_

After five minutes her panic attack calmed down to acceptable levels and her fear drunk mind cleared. She took a final deep breath and slowly lay back down against her pillows. She reached over for the bottled water next to her on the nightstand and took a deep drink, before wiping her mouth and shaking her head.

_God damn nightmares._

She noticed thin wisps of smoke wafted past her nose and she looked around trying to find their source. Her brow furrowed as she saw the two deep black burn marks on either side of her bed. The stress the nightmare brought on must have triggered her powers as she slept, as per usual.

_Dammit, I gotta buy more sheets again. This always happens!_

It was a nightmare that seemed to visit her at least once a year, usually around her birthday, but that wasn't for another month. It was unusual to say the least to experience it so early in the year, but considering the very recent sequence of events, it wasn't entirely too hard to believe. That by far had been the worst night of her life and she had the entire event in its entirety burned into her psyche whether she liked it or not.

Normally, Shego made a point to never sleep in as late as she had, however she considered it acceptable this one time considering she hadn't gotten to sleep until 6am that very morning. Tracking her stray daughter had taken that long.

(Middleton: Four Hours Ago)

Shego was honestly not surprised when she entered her room to check on Agni and found her daughter nowhere in sight. Most mothers probably would have panicked, or grabbed for the phone to call the local police. However, most would agree that Shego never did anything the ordinary way. At seeing her window open she merely leaned against her wall and sighed.

_Dammit Agni, Can't you understand that I'm way too tired to deal with this right now?_

She stuck her head out the window and looked around to get some indication of what direction the troublesome girl must have run off in. Tiny holes were melted into the wall leading down, indicating Agni had used her power to melt handholds for her to ease herself down rather then just jump and get her mothers attention with the noise. Shego smirked despite herself. Her daughter was very good, that was true without a doubt, certainly better than Shego had been at her age. Although to be perfectly honest Shego had spent most of her time trying to learn not the set fire to everything around her than to perfect her sneaking habits. Agni on the other hand had her entire life to get used to her powers.

Shego stepped out from the window and landed gracefully and soundlessly on the street below.

_Now where did you run off to…?_

The thief could have taken the traditional route and looked over the area to pick up the clues needed to find the girl as was her usual method, but in this case there was a far easier technique at her disposal and this was one of the only scenarios where it was useful for anything. She'd be damned if she would waste this opportunity. Shego closed her eyes and concentrated hard, her focus deeply inward.

Considering the eight years it had been since they had last saw one another, and how young Agni had been at the time, Shego wasn't surprised that the girl didn't know the trick Shego was implementing. In theory it was a simple technique; since the power that flowed throughout them both was the same, just as Shego could feel and manipulate the mysterious energy within her, if she simply put her mind to it she could feel it within Agni too, she had been its source after all. However, that didn't mean that it wasn't taxing or exhausting. It did require a great deal of discipline just to learn it. After a moments thought she felt the tug of her consciousness indicate a direction. Opening her eyes, Shego could she a faint glowing green trail heading off in the northeastern direction.

She regretted that she couldn't use that trick on anyone but Agni, since if it also worked on her brothers she would always know when to leave the area.

_If I could only visit her I could teach her about all the things she's capable of. _ The power they both possessed was by far the most versatile of what that blasted meteor had granted (or cursed) her siblings and her with. There were so many uses from subtle to big things that could never be learned from a letter. _There is so much that I'd like to teach her about but… _She halted that train of thought before it had a chance to go anywhere foolish. _There in nothing I can do about that now. Get over it. _

Shifting her focus, Shego made her way to her car and drove off after her rebellious daughter, focusing more on her instincts than the road itself.

As she drove her mind strayed back towards the conversation she had had with her mother about an hour ago. The woman was as much a vile and scary bitch as she was when Shego had been Agni's age. Her father was the one that did most of the actual raising of Shego and her siblings but when it came to matters of discipline and punishment, he always stepped aside like the inherent cowards Shego knew him to be and allowed her mother to take center stage. Roza never liked to be bothered with her family unless circumstances made it necessary, and Shego's early rebellious streak made it more then necessary very early on. Sometimes Shego got herself into trouble just to upset the woman, which never worked out like she would have liked. Instead of getting her mother to notice her for once, she usually just cast Shego that same hardened expressionless stare, like she was deciding if it was worth her time to even come up with a punishment, before retreating to her office.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that it had probably been her father, Dmitri's idea to have children. He was the over affectionate softy in the family after all. Her mother probably just did it so he would have something to do with his time.

_And now Agni has to deal with that same thorny mess. No wonder she ran off. Honestly I can't even blame her; I'd have done the exact same thing in this situation. _

The only reason Shego didn't run away herself was out of spite. She simply didn't want to make her mother's life that easy. Part of the pale thief wished she could shed her desperately stubborn streak for all the trouble it put her through but another part of her mentioned that had it not been for the vicious spiteful side of her, Agni would never have existed more then a week beyond her conception. Even that choice to keep the only person she currently gave a damn about was born from stubborn spite.

_God was that a day, _Shego reminisced as she drove down the darkened streets. The day she told her mother she was pregnant had been nothing short of a catastrophe. Her entire family ended up nearly coming to blows over that mess and she made a point not to think about that day or any of the days that closely followed. The last thing she needed was to be put in a worse mood then she was already in.

After roughly twenty minutes of following the dull trail, Shego's brow furrowed as she noticed the direction in which she was headed. It honestly didn't seem possible. For a moment, she began to think that she was following some roundabout wild goose chase that her twelve-year-old must have thought up. As unlikely as that seemed it was still easier to believe then what seemed far more obvious. As far as she could tell, she was heading straight towards Kimmie's home.

_What the hell is she doing running this way? She's not actually heading over to Pumpkin's home, is she? That couldn't be, she barely stand to be in the same room as Kimmie. _After a moment's consideration, she shook her head in exasperation. _She probably figured this would throw me off. It would have too had this been a normal search. Heh, she's even more stubborn than I am._

When she reached Kim's neighborhood, she parked a few blocks away, to avoid alerting anyone in the house. It was still pretty early but there was small chance that Kimmie's family might be awake. Things would have been much easier if her family wasn't familiar with her face. She would have to approach thief-style in order to avoid anything troublesome.

Silently she snuck over to the Possible residence and around to the back where the wall connected to Pumpkin's window. All her senses told her that this was where Agni had run off to, and she was up there currently. That much became obvious as she inspected the wall. Similar melted claw marks made there way up to the window that were outside Shego's apartment. The girl certainly didn't care for subtlety

Using the handholds her daughter had thoughtfully provided, Shego crawled up and peered into the window, only to suddenly lose her balance and fall to the ground. That rare show of clumsiness was the result of seeing something impossible, and reflexively pushing away from the wall.

_It couldn't be. I'm just really __**REALLY**__ tired._

Taking a deep breath, Shego slowly made her way back up the wall, this time making sure to steady her self before looking in. She peered inside the room and was greeted with that same impossible sight. She cautiously shifted her weight to her right side, so that she could rub her eyes with the side of her left hand. She blinked, but she still saw it.

Her surly troublesome daughter and the girl she maintained a bitter rivalry with were both sleeping… in the same bed… in one another's arms… and looked like they were both **very** comfortable in that position. It simply didn't add up no matter how the pale woman wrapped her mind around it.

She fully expected to find Agni in there, however she thought the girl would be hiding in the closet until the coast was clear, not in her enemy's bed. Despite herself, she began to feel a deep boiling anger begin to push it's was up through her consciousness. _What the hell is Agni doing! Is she that desperate that she would run to the same woman who is constantly trying to beat down on my career? I bet this is some way of getting back at me!_

After a moment of giving into those feelings, other thoughts soon pushed themselves to the surface. _Agni wouldn't have run from me if she felt she had a choice. Not from me. Maybe… maybe I should try to find some other way. I certainly can't take care of her, not after what happened. But I'm a real loser if I think I can just forget about her happiness too… I'm not like my mother, I won't just forget about her because it's easier._

Shego quickly realized that she had been watching the two sleeping girls for over ten minutes. Agni's calm expression didn't hide the dark lines under her eyes, evidence of her exhausting trip to run to her mother's arms, a trip that seemed to be ending in utter failure. _I feel so pathetic right now; I bet I'd throw up if I looked in a mirror. She doesn't deserve the crap she's put through, that __**I**__ put her through. _She suppressed a sigh and leapt from where she hung outside the window to the soft grass.

_I'll come back later, when they're awake. _She thought. _I'd be such a bitch if I woke her up like that out of nowhere only to drag her back to her grandparents. I need time to think about things… Maybe I'll bust Drakken out to clear my head. He's probably plenty pissed by now too considering how I bailed on him. _Shego considered as she made her way back to her car.

Above all other things though, she intended to finally get some rest. Working on only three hours sleep was probably one of the reasons she was so unable to handle things right now. She briefly considered that her parents were probably expecting Agni back some time soon. She shrugged those thoughts away with a tired grin.

_Screw em._

(Shego's Apartment: Present Time)

Shego felt drained and heavy as she eased herself down at her kitchen table, balancing two slices of toast and a glass of orange juice in both hands. She generally felt pretty out of it for the entire day whenever she had that nightmare. However, unlike usually she didn't have the option of merely lying back for the day and calming her nerves. Above all things, she needed to figure out what to do to help her daughter.

She idly chewed on a piece of toast as she glanced over her shoulder at the small digital clock. The small red numbers read that it was 1pm in the afternoon. _Kim should be up and about by now. _Shego thought idly. However despite that, it didn't make her want to get up and perform her motherly duties any more then she already did.

_What am I gonna say to Agni?" I'm sorry things are tough, deal with it?" or maybe, "Eighteen isn't that far away." Good Shego, really good. You sure are a benefit to your daughter's life. _She sighed and reclined back in her seat, completely oblivious to what her best solution was.

And too stubborn to ask the one person who might be able to help her…

Chapter 5: End

Authors Notes: If any one has any ideas they'd like to submit to help beef up this story, please don't hesitate to PM me.


	6. Recreation

Your standard legal disclaimer thing: I don't own Kim Possible. I will remove this story off the net if they give me shit. Blah blah blah, yada yada yada. You all know the drill by now.

Small Surprises, Big Consequences

Chapter 6: Recreation

"I can't believe you want to eat at a sty like this."

Kim frowned and looked over at her diminutive companion. They were currently standing outside of her usual afternoon place of relaxation, the Bueno Nacho. She had made plans to meet Ron there in about a half hour, but came a half-hour early so that she might try to talk to Agni before hand, and possibly get to the root of the young girl's domestic-issues. On the way to the restaurant Agni had been remarkably tight-lipped whenever Kim attempted to prompt any sort of conversation, usually responding with monosyllabic grunts, shrugs, or more often than not simply ignoring the redhead. The pale girl's bitter assessment of their destination was the first full sentence she had said since Kim had insisted she take a shower.

Kim responded back with a similar dosage of vinegar. "I thought all _little_ kids like fast food." She stressed the word "little" because she knew it would get a rise out of the twelve-year-old. Personally Kim hated when kids thought they knew so much better than their elders (the Tweebs especially). The verbal barb apparently struck home when Agni suddenly halted mid-step and flashed the teen a venomous emerald glare.

"I ain't little! And you'd hate this place too if your Uncle's idea of making dinner was this take-out junk every single night!"

_Uncle? Oh yeah, I forgot that Hego would be Agni's uncle. Man have I been off my game. I guess I would get pretty sick of this stuff too if I had to eat it every day. _Kim shrugged.

"I see your point but I'm meeting someone here later, and I don't trust the Tweebs to not bother us while we talk."

Agni raised her eyebrow at the unfamiliar term. "Tweebs? Oh, I get it, clever." She shoved her hands into the pockets of the sweatshirt Kim had lent her earlier and then proceeded inside without another word forcing Kim to chase after her.

When they entered the building, rather then walk up to the front counter to order anything, Agni just found a booth close to the window and sat. At the sight, Kim just sighed and shrugged. If she did not want to eat, it was not the redhead's responsibility to force her. Kim got herself a burrito and a large soda and then sat across from the pale twelve-year-old. Agni was currently sitting with her face resting on her right arm and staring with unfocussed eyes out the window. Kim was sure that something was bothering the girl; she had been acting standoffish and brooding ever since she got out of the shower. _I guess that while she was alone with her thoughts, she didn't like what she saw. It does make sense though; she did come all this way for nothing._

"Are you sure you're not hungry?" Kim asked. "You really should eat something. You're diet hasn't been exactly normal for the last couple of days." The redhead had no idea how she managed to make that trip solely based on what snacks she could fit in her pockets. It was certainly mind blowing.

Agni looked up at Kim with and unreadable expression before lowering her head to look back out the window. "Why the hell do you care, anyway? I get that there's that whole "teen-hero" thing, but I'm your worst enemy's kid. Shouldn't that bug you? If I were you, I'd be trying to get rid of me right now. In fact if I were you, I'd have sent my tiny ass packing yesterday." Her tone had barely any inflection, spoken like a robot reading off a script.

_Well we did come here to talk,_ Kim thought bitterly,_ might as well get it over with._

"Listen Agni," She spoke keeping her voice level, "if you really got the "teen-hero" thing, than you'd understand that it doesn't matter to me if your mom was my enemy, or Satan or whatever. That's just the way I am." She paused to take a sip of her soda before continuing. "And if I were to take you back to your Grandparents I get the feeling you'd just run away again and then nothing would be solved. I think it's better to take care of this now instead of the next inevitable time."

This got the young girls attention. She sat up and eyed Kim critically before narrowing her eyes. "What makes _you_ think you can do anything to help me?"

Kim smiled. "You saw my site; it says it right there at the top of my homepage; "I can do anything."

Agni scoffed, but a slight tugging of the corner of her lips made it apparent that she was keeping herself from grinning. "Whatever, so what do you wanna ask me then?"

Kim shrugged, "Well the core of the problem as I see it is that you don't want to go home, so I think the best place to start would be for you to tell me why."

Agni's face suddenly contorted into a feral glare, but it wasn't directed at Kim. "Oh, that…"

_I don't think I've ever even seen Shego look that mad. This girl has major anger issues._

Agni looked up at Kim, her expression forced neutrality. "Okay, but don't rush me."

Kim noticed she was looking at Kim as if she were expecting some confirmation. She nodded and smiled to try to calm the girl down. "Okay, I promise, just go at you own pace."

Seeing Kim acknowledge her request, Agni sighed and leaned back in her seat with her arms crossed and her eyes closed. Her expression was not one Kim ever expected to see on a twelve-year-old. "Um… okay, I think I figured where to start. Y'see I guess I could say my problems started before I was born."

Kim's eyes widened but remembered her promise and stopped herself from saying anything. It was hard enough to get the girl talking in the first place; she didn't want to jinx the situation by opening her mouth.

Agni continued, her eyes still closed, "My Mom and her parents never got along much; I think Mom and my Grandparents fought a lot, 'specially after I was born. When mom and my uncles were in that meteor accident, things got sort of complicated… The next two years were tough on them; at least I heard it was."

"Complicated like what?" Kim asked with rapt attention.

"Things like; Mom kept accidentally setting stuff on fire, Uncle Hego flipped a car into a building when he tried to open the door, Uncle Mego was almost eaten by the cat, that sort of stuff." Kim couldn't help but smile at the mental image that brought on.

Agni continued as thought she hadn't noticed, "Mom had this friend once, I don't know her name but she accidentally hurt her friend really badly just by bumping into her. A couple of third-degree burns and skin grafts later and they're not friends anymore."

Kim nearly choked on her soda when she heard that, it made sense though. The power Shego had been given was no laughing matter. Kim remembered how long it took her to get a handle on Hego's strength when she had it; she could only imagine what kind of damage that green energy could do if it was out of control.

"Uncle Hego and the others wanted to do things with their powers, y'know that hero stuff you do." She shrugged, "Mom and Grandma weren't very thrilled bout it but Grandpa and my Uncles kinda forced the issue. Eventually my Mom and Grandma gave in and started working at it." She smiled, "And that is when I come into the picture."

Kim forgot all about the meal untouched in front of her and listened intently at the story. This was the first time Kim could catch a glimpse of her rival's earlier life. To be honest, while Kim really did want to help Agni, the rest was sheer morbid curiosity.

Agni grinned humorlessly and looked up at Kim. "Things are kinda fuzzy in this part of the story."

Kim couldn't help but ask; "So who is-" She was cut off when she noticed the look the girl was giving her.

Agni looked Kim dead in the eyes and stated the next part very clearly. "I don't know who my dad is so do _not_ even ask. No one will tell me, and I stopped caring about it some time ago."

Kim nearly screamed in frustration. She had been so close to hearing the answer and then hit a brick wall. Idly, she wondered if she could just ask Shego herself but quickly squelched that line of thinking. If the thief wouldn't tell her own daughter, than she certainly wouldn't tell her rival.

"There was a lot of fighting after that. I dunno why myself, but I get the feeling that Gram and Gramp wanted Mom to get rid of me early on. Mom refused no matter what, and even threatened to walk out on them. Eventually her parents caved. I was born after that."

Kim frowned deeply at what she just heard. Knowing that your grandparents who took care of you didn't want you in the first place was certainly enough to give any child a complex. _I'm actually kind of surprised that Shego was so insistent; she just never seemed the type to even want kids._

"When I was born, most of my family was sort of forced to help out my mom since she was still in high school at the time. When I was around," she paused and looked thoughtful for a moment, "two years old I think, Mom finally started helping out Hego and the others with that stupid Team Go business. My Grandparents watched me a lot after that. Between her school and the hero stuff I never saw her much," Agni grinned wistfully, "but she always made time."

_Sounds like a really complicated home life. Probably stressful as hell._

"Mom was a bit rough when it came to the hero stuff, she was sort of excessive. At least that's what Uncle Hego says. I honestly don't believe him, but that's just me. She would like, really mess up the bad people she was after. I personally think thrashing some dumb crooks is just part of the job. They got into a lot of fights over it."

_This is starting to sound like another story I was told. I figured it would come to this eventually._

"When I was around four… something happened." Her tone all of a sudden became troubled and her words began to catch in her throat. "I don't really know what, but I remember..." Agni's expression hardened and she looked away, visibly biting her lower lip. She stopped when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder; she looked up and saw Kim looking down at her, her expression colored with concern.

"You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to. It's not the drama."

Agni looked at the hand, then up at the young woman who offered it with trepidation. She cleared her throat and shrugged off the arm.

"S'ok, I'm fine. I'll tell you the rest." She crossed her arms and gave Kim a steely look before leaning back into her seat. Kim looked down at the girl thoughtfully before sitting back down, still digesting what she just heard.

_A lot seems to have happened eight years ago, I think I might look into this myself. If it was enough to get Shego to leave than there must be something to find. _She resolved to ask Wade to look into it later. She was about to ask Agni to continue but a sudden and familiar voice from behind stopped her in her proverbial tracks.

"Hey KP, I'm sorry I'm late. It was new-comics-day at the Pulp & Ink, so I had to swing by while the pickings were still hot." Ron stated as he stepped up to Kim from behind holding a large tray full of all manner of nacos, nachos, chimmuritos, and the like. Rufus was sticking out of Ron's pocket eyeing the platter with growing anticipation.

Somewhat disappointed by how suddenly the young girl shut up, Kim managed to greet her friend sounding only slightly dejected. Agni however glared at the blond boy with open hostility, which was only to be expected considering.

Ron was about to take his usual seat across from Kim but his eyes fell to the small figure already taking up his usual spot. In Ron's opinion something about the small green girl set warning klaxons off in his head and made his blood run cold but he couldn't fathom what (mostly because his greater thought processes were being used to deal with his growing hunger). Eventually the blond simply rationalized that it was due to her glaring up at him indignantly.

"So KP…" Ron asked cautiously, turning towards his companion. "Who's your friend?"

"Friend?" Agni asked annoyed. She was about to correct the blond boy but Kim quickly cut her off.

"Ron, this is Agni, she's… um…" Kim looked around trying to think of a quick cover story. She was a lousy liar after all, the Centurian incident proved that. "I'm babysitting her for a… friend," Kim finally managed to say. The young girl suddenly blanched at the notion of being baby-sat by the woman she loathed, but chose to keep her objection to herself when Kim offered her an overly stern look.

"Ooooh, Ok I getcha," Ron said nodding knowingly. He looked over at the green twelve-year-old and grinned nervously. "Hey Aggy, I'm Ron," He said with his usual warm (and somewhat vapid) smirk.

A small pink and wrinkly creature popped out halfway from Ron's breast pocket and smirked. "Heya" said Rufus in his usual squeak of a voice.

Ron looked down at his bald companion. "Oh yeah, and this is Rufus." Agni's right eye twitched, both at the fact that he got her name wrong, but also the fact that his pet was (in her opinion) probably one of the creepier things that she'd ever seen in her short life.

The sidekick quickly shoved in next to Agni so that he could be across from his best friend. Agni sneered at the action and scooted over so that there was a good foot between them. The pale girl had limited experience dealing with the male sex outside of her interaction with her grandfather and uncles, but that didn't mean she couldn't tell a flake when she saw one. That and the small wrinkly _thing_ crawling out of his pocket was creepy as hell, especially when it favored her with a look of curiosity.

Ron for his part wasted no time at all devouring two nacos almost simultaneously, his small furless companion joining in just as quickly. Between bites he began to detail to Kim trivia on the vintage comics he had managed to purchase, and how much of a crime it was for import issues to be so expensive lately. Kim however only showed she was paying attention by nodding occasionally while smiling, her mind on a vastly different subject.

_I really got only half the story out of Agni, and it's going to be hell to manage to get her to tell me the rest. _She favored the pale girl with a look. Currently Agni was backed up against the window looking a Rufus with morbid curiosity while apparently trying to keep her distance. Rufus ironically was doing the same, something about the girl made the rodent very uncomfortable. Kim kept from snickering at the sight.

_I know one thing though; she certainly doesn't come from an overly friendly environment that's for sure. She's has a big chip on her shoulder. Why can't Shego just take care of her? She used to so what could have changed?_

Ron having eaten a good majority of the greasy mess on his tray favored the small girl with another look. Part of him was sure he had met her before, but he couldn't remember where. _Y'know_, he thought, _she looks sort of like…_ He shut off that train of thought instantly. Thinking about that green psycho within the sacred walls of the Bueno Nacho was bad karma that he certainly wouldn't indulge in. He gave Agni another look and finally noticed that she wasn't eating anything. Being a nice guy he decided to offer up the third naco on his tray.

The pale girl looked up at him with fierce emerald-green eyes like she was assessing him before speaking in a light and dismissive tone. "I'm not s'pposed to talk to strangers."

Mentally the twelve-year-old added; _and you're about as strange as they come._

Hearing this, Kim began to choke on her soda. Ron much to the cheerleader's surprise nodded knowingly. "Yeah, my mom used to say that kind of stuff to me, "he thought for a moment and his brow furrowed, "actually, she _still_ does… "

The meal went on like that for about ten more minutes; Ron would talk about the minor events of his day as per usual with his furless companion eating or occasionally chiming in after Ron made a statement. Kim however was mostly lost in her own head going over the sparse information that Agni had volunteered. Regarding Agni, the thief's daughter had long since abandoned the socializing going on around her and resumed looking out the window with her MP3 player blaring in her ears, and throwing the occasional nervous stare in Rufus' direction.

Eventually the blond stood up and looked over at his friend as he deposited his tray onto the shelf above the garbage can. "Hey KP, me and Rufus are gonna go see Splatter Mall 3: The Shoppening, later, you in? It's gonna be blood-soaked fun to be had by all." He added enticingly.

Kim had less than fond memories of that particular series' first two installments (letting Ron be in charge of what movies to rent was a mistake not likely to be repeated) so she was somewhat quick to decline. Had Agni been paying attention she might have actually pushed to join him, as horror and action movies were really all that she would watch.

The two old friends, and the surly girl, walked out to the front of the restaurant and prepared to part ways. Ron cast Kim a forlorn look. "Are you sure you don't wanna come? I'll spot for the popcorn if you do."

Kim smiled and shook her head. "No, I've still got Agni to take care of," She winced as a tiny elbow hit her in the side, "but I'm sure Monique would love to join you."

Ron looked thoughtful. "Monique… I guess I'll give her a ring, Ok KP. The movies at Eight if you decide to get on the bandwagon."

They exchanged farewells and parted soon after. Kim heading back in the direction of her home with Agni closely behind. Now in private she turned to give the girl a stern look. "What was with that "I don't talk to strangers" thing?" She asked with undisguised annoyance.

The young girl shrugged with indifference. "I just didn't want to deal with him. He's weird, and his pet looks like it was dipped in toxic waste, _twice_." She shuddered at the memory of the creature.

Kim sighed, "Rufus is a naked mole rat, their supposed to look that way." She favored the pale girl with a side glance. Agni was walking in her usual pose, her head angled towards the street and her hands in her pockets. Kim wondered if she ever walked in to anything since she was never watching where she was going. It reminded her of when the girl crashed into her when she was trying to run off. Kim smirked at the memory.

Agni looked up at the redhead in annoyance. "What's so funny?"

Kim smirked, "I'm just reflecting on earlier this morning when you tried to get away like that."

This caused the younger girl to deeply scowl. "You were lucky is all. That's the only reason you got me."

"Luck had nothing to do with it." Kim added smugly, but noticed that Agni was gritting her teeth and trying to hide her blush of shame. The teen did acknowledge that the young girl was very good for her age, probably all traits she adopted from her mother, including that power.

"Where did you learn to fight like that, anyways? Did your grandparents sign you up for some martial arts classes?" Anne had done just that for Kim when the girl was a couple years younger than Agni. Since then she mostly adopted skills during the heated battles her missions provided. Shego of course was a major participant in said battles.

Agni snickered humorlessly. "As if! They never let me do cool stuff like that, something about not letting me end up like; "That black stain on our family." She said that last part mimicking a deep monotone voice. Kim guessed she was parodying her Grandfather. She would have been surprised to learn it was actually the girl mocking her Grandmother.

_I can't believe they call Shego that if front of her daughter! I can imagine having Shego for a child must be some parent's worst nightmare but still, there are certain lines._

"So, if not in classes then where?" Kim finally asked. Agni shrugged as she tended to do.

"Nowhere really, mostly junk I picked up from movies." She furrowed her brow, "And I get in plenty of fights at school."

Kim couldn't really imagine that many fights happened in a prestigious all-girls school like the go Academy, however the cheerleader's instincts told her Agni wasn't lying to her. Kim knew first hand that girls had the potential to be downright ruthless, Bonnie being her primary example, nevertheless not a single one of them ever thought to attack the redhead or try to intimidate her. However, that could likely be attributed to the fact that her reputation guaranteed anyone foolish enough to try would be put down in half a maneuver.

"Fights with who, bullies?"

Agni scoffed. "Yeah, I guess you could call em that." She walked ahead so that she was in front of Kim instead of the other way around. "Although, because their in the majority, technically _I'm_ the bully."

Kim frowned, "What do you mean; "You're the bully?"

She cast Kim a glance like she was a simpleton. "Think about it, they're a bunch of rich pampered debbies, while I'm just some brat who happens to go their 'cause my mom paid for me. It's like throwing bacon to a pack of Dobermans. Who do you think the teachers are gonna believe when it comes down to it, Cassandra whose daddy donated a new teacher's lounge, or me, the pasty city girl?" She laughed humorlessly. "Like I said, _I'm_ the bully."

_Wow, a whole school full of Bonnie Rockwallers. _Kim shuddered down to her very core. _I still have nightmares about that! _It reminded her of way back when Drakken went clone-happy and made a small army of rabid Bonnie-clones. _There are just some things __**worth**__ forgetting._ The redhead almost missed the next words to leave Agni's mouth.

"The really funny part is that those girls have absolutely no idea how close I've come to char-broiling them in their own egos." Her left hand moved from her pocket and lit up with swirling green light as she made a fist. If Kim was closer she would have seen the girl smiling grimly.

At hearing the pale girl's declaration, Kim bit her lip as she thought of something troubling that had never occurred to her until just then. Shego and Agni both had the same frightening power but between them there was one particular difference that demanded Kim's immediate attention. Despite the fact that the green thief had the strength and power to rip a person in half and burn them into a carbon stain, she also had the martial discipline and maturity to know when to hold back. However, Agni lacked both of these things. If Kim was right, the girl was mostly ignored back home, and was under a lot of stress, enough to make her run off across two states.

Considering that, and adding in the fact that the girl was an altered-human with green star power, it was like a kid going to school with a loaded gun. If it ever finally got to the young girl to the point that she could no longer hold herself back, then there was a decent chance that Agni could end up doing something she'd regret for the rest of her life.

Kim thought all this as she eyed Agni warily. _If Shego could actually take care of her I'd have nothing to worry about, but I can't ignore the possibility._

"What is it?"

The young voice shook Kim from her internal monologue. She looked up only to see Agni favor her with a look of concern. "You were looking at me kind of… funny. You also got real quite, what's up?"

Kim was about to come up with some random excuse but noticed that her home was only ten feet away. Suddenly a somewhat crazy idea struck the redhead. _Maybe… no it's stupid… but… _Despite her mental debate, her mouth began to form words almost against her commands.

"Hey, Agni… You said you thought martial arts lessons would be cool right?" Kim chose her words carefully.

Agni looked over at Kim confused. "What are you going on about now? What about it?"

"Well…," Kim looked around for a moment uncomfortably before continuing. _I may as well take the plunge. How do I get my self into things like this?_ "How would you like it if I taught you some moves?"

Agni's face lit up briefly but she quickly suppressed it. She then regarded the redhead skeptically. "Seriously? …Why?"

_Because I'm worried you might hurt someone and learning a discipline or two might help with that. _But Kim was sure not to say it. "Well for one; because we have plenty of time to waste right now and on top of that you seem interested, so why not?"

Agni looked on for a moment and then shrugged to keep up her mask of general indifference. "Sure. I mean, if you want to." Internally the girl was holding a celebration. _Finally something good comes out of being drilled by this ditz for over two hours! I'll learn to beat down on her just like Mom. _

Shego's image popped into her head suddenly causing the girl's mood to sink. _This would be so great if it were Mom and not Kim. I mean, what's the deal? Does she just not want me, is that it? _Even as she thought that, Agni quickly shook her head. _No, listen to your self whine like that, she does want us, it's just that there's crap in the way. She wouldn't write me if she didn't care._ Agni quickly shrugged off those self-sabotaging feeling and looked over at the redhead in front of her with determination.

"So, now right?"

"Yeah, follow me." Kim led Agni to the backyard. The space was wide, and the grass would provide a soft area for them to tumble around in. When they got there the Kim bent over and stretched for a minute before looking up. She was shocked to see Agni imitating her actions in deep concentration. Kim barely suppressed a snicker.

"Aright, here's how we'll do this. You come at me like you did this morning and then we'll go from th-"she was cut off in mid-sentence when a glowing clawed hand came at her face with surprising speed. Grabbing the wrist Kim instinctively flipped the small body over her head and twisted the offending limb behind the pale girl's back, all the while being careful not to hurt her. Slightly flustered by the surprise Kim looked down at the struggling girl pinned to the grass and smirked. "Okay, some ground rules. First; don't start until I say "Go"."

Agni then let out a feral growl. "You said to come at you like before, right? I didn't give you a warning back then either!"

Kim laughed despite herself. "I guess not, but lets be a bit more civil next time, kay?" She let go and stood up. Agni quickly righted herself and looked up at the redhead with her eyes full of challenge. _There's more than just __**green**__ fire in this girl._

Agni crossed her arms and tapped her foot trying to look as impatient as possible. "Well…?"

_Hyper little brat, isn't she. _Kim grinned, "Ok then, Go!" Suddenly twin glowing blast rushed past her head forcing the redhead to duck, and suddenly roll as similar blasts (this time accompanied by claws) struck after her relentlessly. However, rather than subdue the girl, Kim simply moved between and around the fierce strikes with an almost unnatural ease, ducking and weaving with the grace of a dancer (or in this case a cheerleader). She somersaulted left to avoid a kick directed at her temple, before back flipping to keep from being stabbed by the girls burning right hand.

"Try not to swing so wide, it leaves you totally open." She sidestepped a kick, "Never kick from your knee, it slows you down, and throws you off balance."

"Grr, Know-it-all!"

This went on for well over an hour, Kim would out maneuver the smaller girl, and at the same time drop helpful advice along the way. This seemed to frustrate Agni even further, mostly due to the fact that she hadn't landed a single hit on the smiling hero once. This was making it extremely hard to keep up with the illusion that Kim was a vapid ditz. That didn't however mean that she wasn't taking Kim's advice while she heard it.

The olive-eyed cheerleader was actually amazed that the girl was doing as well as she had been. Agni seemed to be improving in mid-combat. She only needed to be told something once before she never repeated the same mistake. To make matters worse, Agni had (obviously) super-human endurance on her side and just all around tenacity, making her attacks quick and relentless.

_One thing's for sure, she certainly takes this really seriously. I wonder why? It seems a bit intense for a girl just looking for a hobby. _Kim was about to dodge backwards as a burning hand rushed towards her but her movements were suddenly halted by something hard behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw it was the oak tree growing along the perimeter of her backyard.

Agni grinned when she saw her target was pinned and wasted no time rushing forward, her right hand's fingers pointed straight out in a piercing position. However the girl's mental victory proved to be a fantasy when Kim completely disappeared from view, having jumped well over the pale green girl and landing right behind her. _Grr, Dammit! _Much to the twelve-year-old's chagrin momentum carried her forward and straight into the tree, sinking her glowing hand wrist deep into the oak, and bumping her forehead hard against it.

"Owww….." Agni groaned.

Kim covered her mouth to keep from laughing, but soon the internal pressure brought about by her building mirth was simply too much to bear. The hero let out a deep belly laugh, until she was red in the face. This was only made worse when she noticed Agni was having some trouble pulling her hand free of its wooden prison.

"Yeah, laugh it up, dummy!" The girl growled propping both of her feet against the thick tree and pulling. She let out a strained growl as she pulled and lit up her trapped hand to burn it free. The result sent her flying backwards and hard onto the ground. Agni did her best to look like Kim's laughter didn't reach her, but her deep blush made that difficult. She was surprised when she felt a warm hand land on her shoulder.

"You've got a lot of spirit, Agni," Kim said brightly. "And you're really good, too. But, here's a piece of advice for you," Kim's tone became serious, "You need to lay off all the aggressive strikes and put more thought into the way you move. If you don't it leaves you open to attack and you might hurt someone pretty badly."

Agni frowned. "Isn't that the point?"

Kim sighed and crossed her arms. "No, the point is to defend yourself, and on top of that even if hurting the other person was "the point" even your mom never kills anyone. She knows better." Kim stated matter-of-factly.

Agni scoffed and shook her head. "You don't know much bout my Mom, do you." It was more a statement than a question.

Kim furrowed her brow and spoke out more annoyed than she intended. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know how my Mom used to do the hero thing, right? Why do you think she left?"

Kim frowned and recalled the story Hego told her. "Your uncle told me she liked being evil more than fighting evil." Her voice sounded somewhat uncertain however. That tale was much easier to swallow back when Agni wasn't in the picture.

The green girl "tsked" and said in annoyance, "Uncle Hego is an idiot who thinks up a lot of junk. Yeah, she likes being a thief more, to be sure, but that aint the reason."

Kim blinked in confusion. "Then… why?"

Agni smirked humorlessly. "'Cause she finally up and killed someone."

Chapter 6: End


	7. Relations

Your standard legal disclaimer thing: I don't own Kim Possible. I will remove this story off the net if they give me shit. Blah blah blah, yada yada yada. You all know the drill by now.

Small Surprises, Big Consequences

Chapter 7: Relations

Shego sat back and stared across the street as Kim and Agni went back and forth sparring in the backyard of the Possible residence. Well, to be fair, it was pretty generous to call what went on sparring; it was more Agni trying to beat up Kim, and Kim dancing around her with natural ease. It was quite a sight, considering her hated rival and her beloved daughter wouldn't even be in the same room as one another in an ideal situation, let alone spar together.

Shego had driven over to the Possible household a half hour earlier, having finally gotten up the nerve she needed to take her wayward daughter back to Go. However, when she finally arrived, a quick glance around had revealed to the green thief that Kim and Agni had left for somewhere. She decided to use her free time by waiting in her car and rehearsing what she intended to say to Kim and Agni when she showed up to collect. Her plan basically involved being stern with the young twelve-year-old, and trying to discourage any future attempts to egress, but Shego doubted that any of it was going to sink in. Agni was as stubborn as her mother, in fact probably more so.

_Well, Mom is stubborn too, so I guess I can just blame genetics for that lousy trait._

After around roughly ten minutes of waiting, planning and preparing, Shego saw Kim and Agni approach from down the street. They seemed to be conversing with one another about who-knew-what. Having dealt with Kim for a couple of years now, Shego had developed an instinctive insight into the moods of her unusual opponent (somewhat to her own dismay). It was painfully obvious that something was troubling the youthful redhead. Kim's expression temporarily distracted Shego from leaving her car and approaching the two as she had originally intended.

She was surprised when she saw them make their way towards the backyard rather then walk in through the front door. Soon they were out of the green thief's range of vision entirely. Remembering her original intentions, Shego left her vehicle parked along the far curb and snuck over and around the house to see what the two were doing. As she stealthily approached, Shego heard the sounds of heavy breathing, shouting, and hurried footfalls; the telltale noises associated with a scuffle. She quickly peaked around the corner to reaffirm her suspicions.

_Well I'll be…_

The two were fighting… in a sense. Agni was frantically running around and jumping at Kim with her claws outstretched and her powers released to their low-medium output. The thief's daughter was throwing sudden energy bolts, slashes and kicks at the smiling heroine who was dodging the amateur attacks with graceful disregard. Every now and then Kim would speak out a word of encouragement or advice, which Agni would quickly (albeit begrudgingly) employed immediately after.

Shego was honestly impressed with the little firecracker. She knew from Agni's letters that she got into fights at school often, much to Shego's dismay (not because she didn't want her daughter to fight, she was completely fine with that. She just hated the reason that the girl had to), but she never knew that the Agni was as skilled at it as she currently displayed. Her sense of balance was impeccable as she landed on her feet from an aerial kick, or slash, and she corrected her own errors, even when Kim didn't say anything.

_Definite natural talent there, but that's obvious. She is __**my**__ kid after all. _Shego thought smugly. At the same time though, she felt an unwelcome stinging pang of jealousy. Watching Kim interact with Agni like that (something Shego could no longer do because of her own choices) was a bit much for her to bear witness to.

Suddenly Kim found herself pinned between the tree in her backyard, and the little green firebomb rushing headlong towards her. She saw Agni grin, thinking she had her victory all but assured, and went in for the kill. Shego sighed and shook her head.

_You're way too impulsive, Kid._

As expected, Kim merely vaulted clear over the girl, which resulted in Agni smashing headfirst into the very tree she had counted on as her trump card. Shego winced, but then covered her mouth to suppress a smirk at seeing the young girl struggle to free her hand, before crashing into the grass. Kim for her part didn't even try to hide her amusement, and laughed out openly. Shego found she couldn't fault her. She did frown though when she saw Kim laid her hand on Agni's shoulder so familiarly. It made that awful little seed of jealousy in her chest grow. The thief was now more than close enough to hear their conversation with crystal clarity.

"You've got a lot of spirit, Agni," Shego heard Kim say in her usual chipper voice. "And you're really good, too. But, here's a piece of advice for you," The redhead's tone became serious, "You need to lay off all the aggressive strikes and put more thought into the way you move. If you don't it leaves you open to attack and you might hurt someone pretty badly."

"Isn't that the point?"

Shego had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing again.

Kim sighed and crossed her arms. "No, the point is to defend yourself, and on top of that even if hurting the other person was "the point" even your mom never kills anyone. She knows better." Kim stated matter-of-factly.

Shego winced at Kim's words. _If only you knew what you were saying Pumpkin…_

Agni scoffed and shook her head. "You don't know much bout my Mom, do you."

The thief's emerald eyes shot wide open at hearing her daughters implicating tone. _She couldn't mean-_

Kim furrowed her brow and spoke out more annoyed than she intended. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know how my Mom used to do the hero thing, right? Why do you think she left?"

Kim frowned "Your uncle told me she liked being evil more than fighting evil." Her voice sounded unsure but Shego was still too shocked to hear it.

"Uncle Hego is an idiot who thinks up a lot of junk. Yeah, she likes being a thief more, to be sure, but that aint the reason."

Kim blinked in confusion. "Then… why?"

_They didn't…_

Agni smirked humorlessly. "'Cause she finally up and killed someone."

_They told her!_

Shego leaned against the house, just out of sight fuming with awful rage, barely keeping her power suppressed. She could feel it's surging intensity just begging to be released through her skin. Internally, Shego raged.

_Who told her? Who the __**fuck**__ told her? I thought they knew better, I should have known they'd spill that. Was it Hego? _She shook her head. _No he's in denial that it even happened. Mego knows not to piss me off, so I doubt it was him. The Wegos? They never would cross that line, even to piss me off._ Shego narrowed her eyes dangerously. She knew _exactly_ who told Agni.

_Mom you stupid __**bitch**__! How long ago did you tell her? You promised me you wouldn't, god dammit! _

Shego slid down to the grass and sat there fuming, wondering how long Agni had been aware of what she had done. She wondered what the girl thought of that. What was it like to live with the knowledge that your parent was a killer? Shego grit her teeth, _what a stupid question to ask yourself…and on top of that…_

…Now Kim knew too. Shego certainly didn't look forward to approaching them now. All of her mental planning and preparation had slipped down the proverbial drain. She had no idea what she would say to them now, or how Kim would react to seeing her. For some reason, the idea that Kim might look down at her after hearing about what she had done troubled Shego greatly. It was a strange unsettling feeling that the green thief was completely unaccustomed to. Her black lips pulled down at the corners when she considered the notion.

_Y'know what's ironic, _Shego thought to herself,_ Both Hego and Agni are both __**way**__ off… The real reason I left… that night…_

(Go City: Eight Years Ago)

When consciousness returned to Shego, the first thing that came to her jumbled and confused mind was a single indisputable concept; _pain_. Her muscles hurt terribly; they ached as though she had been beaten with lead pipes for well over an hour. Her lungs burned from overexertion, which was a feat in itself considering her supernatural fortitude. She was taking deep gulping breaths, both to re-oxygenate her system and also to calm her frazzled nerves. The tingle that usually ran up her arms whenever she used her powers was now a steady throbbing pulse, like a heartbeat, an uncomfortable feeling that always accompanied using her full output, something she had only done three times in her entire life due to its sheer overly destructive capabilities. When on full Shego had almost no control over the resulting jade maelstrom.

Her physical discomfort aside, she felt a deeper, far more intrusive pain from deep within herself. Her heart felt as though someone had slowly wrenched it from her chest and showed it to her purely out of cruel spite. Shego felt a desperate ache from within, a sadness and pain that was foreign and new to her. The worst part was, at that moment, she couldn't remember why.

It was simple physical sensation that shook the heroine from within her own head; the cool feeling of rain continued to fall over her form, before evaporating away immediately after from the infernal heat of her power. Her ears could hear the sizzling sound of liquid instantly converting to vapor as the storm fell upon her. In the background the heavy crash of thunder rumbled and shook across the cityscape. Shego quickly became aware of a dead weight coming from the direction of her right hand. She realized that within her clawed grasp she held something tightly, so tightly it hurt from her edged nails digging into her palm.

Slowly the teenager parted her eyelids to look at what she held within her gloved grip: It was the collar of a nightmarish black cloak, and the entire body that the black cloak was wrapped around. That is, it was the entire body if one did not include the head. Shego barely noticed that her arms were still both ignited at full power; the sheer heat of the two miniature novas was enough to melt the very floor she stood upon. The body she gripped had already been burned away to its skeleton and was in the process of disintegrating as she watched in blank awe. The reality of her situation slowly dawned on her and she panicked stumbling backwards and landing on her behind. The body she held had crumbled to ashen cinders the moment it made contact with the floor.

Shego's lip trembled as she observed the macabre sight before her; the implications of it were simply too much for her to bear. She knew exactly whom that body belonged to; only one person she knew wore that cloak, Bogeyman. She had been fighting him, she knew that, but how in the world had it ended up like this? With forced concentration, she contained her power back into its restrained state as she struggled to remember what brought her to this point. The last thing Shego could remember with clarity was…

Suddenly she screamed and clutched her head, she screamed and screamed and roared at the world, hatred, frustration, malice, rage, bitterness, sorrow, grief, all were shouted out towards the cruel night as the eighteen-year-old laid there on the ground, curled up around herself and clutching her head in her hands with enough force that her claws were lacerating the corners of her face. She remembered what had just occurred, what she had _done_, and now all she wanted to do was die.

_He tricked me into… he made me kill… he, I…_

Her thoughts were an incomprehensible jumble of horrific revelations, the thing that she had been tricked into doing; she couldn't stop seeing it. She couldn't stop remembering the splash of blood hitting her face, the smug synthetic laughter, the anger, the horror, the hatred, and _then_… She continued screaming until her body could support it no longer, and her raw throat failed her. She wasn't sure how long she lay there, time was beyond her notice, however her wide, bloodshot eyes instinctively moved towards a small shape in her peripheral vision.

The shape was at first little more then a blurred lump on the ground. Shego's eyes were still blinded from her tears, but slowly her vision cleared and the blurred image focused into a clearer form. A young lifeless body lying there, several deep angry green gouges ran up and across her back. The child lay still on top of a pool of her green blood. Shego stared blankly at the young child, _her_ child, lying still, wet black bangs hiding the girl's cherubim features. Proof of Shego's sin was just lying there on the metal foundation in front of her. She continued to stare at the tiny body with hypnotic intensity, as though in a fugue.

And then, suddenly, she noticed something amazing, and impossible.

Steam was steadily beginning to rise up from the four-year-old's injuries and Shego could hear a slight sizzling sound from the rain as it came down on the child's smoking wounds and evaporated. That sound could only mean one thing, _life_.

_She's alive!_

Too fast for the naked eye to register, Shego bolted off the floor and made her way over to Agni's side, hoping, _praying_ that what she saw wasn't some beautiful hallucination brought about by her desperate imagination. Looking down at the young girl, Shego could see her chest rise and fall ever so slightly. Agni was still somehow alive, despite her grievous injuries, and despite her lifeless appearance, the young girl was still barely holding onto life. Her regenerative systems were working into overtime, supplying energy to the cells bordering her wounds and forcing them to multiply several thousand times beyond their natural rate. The torn bleeding skin was actually glowing with a faint green light as the edges of her ragged flesh visibly attempted to pull itself back together.

Shego had always secretly cursed and loathed the meteor that had granted, (or maybe cursed), her and her siblings with their current powers, but right at that moment, she couldn't have been more grateful for it. Without that power, a normal child, hell, even a normal adult, would have died from blood loss or shock. Thanks to their overly resilient bodies however, Agni refused to give up the ghost. The girl was as stubborn to be sure.

Shego reached down and gently, but also enthusiastically, picked up the small form and held it to herself in a tight embrace. The heroine reveled in the feeling of the light breaths on her neck, and the girl's body heat competing with her own. It spoke of _life_, and that was worth celebrating.

_I'll have to get her to a hospital; her body's going to be utterly drained by the time that wound is closed. She needs an IV drip or something…_

Standing up, Shego wrapped both of her arms around Agni to support her small body as she got to her feet. She wasn't pleased about moving Agni until the cuts were finished closing but she lacked the luxury of waiting. A quick look around made it obvious that the building they were in was on its last leg. Her fight with Bogeyman had been all over the complex, with her powers melting and igniting everything in their path. Support beams, concrete foundation, all of it was crushed, sliced through, melted down, or simply overtaxed from taking on the extra weight. She could actually hear the building creaking and shaking with every passing instant. It was a miracle that it hadn't fallen already.

Seeing no other option, Shego ran for it. She didn't need to avoid the fires, which was a good thing since they were numerous, but some of the floors were burned clean through, and several hallways had caved in entirely. However, the dangerous course did little to slow her down as she jumped and outmaneuvered any and all pits and falling debris. The feeling of wetness dripping from Agni's back only served to spur her on.

In spite of this dangerous situation, her mind was not entirely on the task before her. In a sense Shego's body was moving entirely on autopilot. The majority of her thought processes' were all focused on what she had done, and what she would have to do now. _Her being alive doesn't change anything. The fact of the matter is that I almost… I thought I…_She suppressed a deep snarl as she tried to avoid that line of thinking; all it served to do was distract her from the task at hand. However despite her attempts, she simply couldn't help herself.

_I can't protect her, I'm a hero and I can't even watch over my own family! Well of course I can't, I can barely even see her any more…_

_That son-of-a-bitch! I'm __**glad**__ I killed him. I'd love to do it again! I wish he wasn't wearing that stupid mask; then I could have seen the look on his face when he realized what he had driven me to. I hope he burns in hell; I certainly saw to it that he burned on earth._ Her justified raging didn't however distract her from her earlier thoughts, regarding the girl in her arms. The facts were all clearly lined up in her head; she couldn't protect Agni. This wasn't the first time either, just the worst. There had been other villains, other attempts, but none as successful as Bogeyman.

The stress of it all was driving Shego to her wits end; she was having trouble even _caring_ anymore. Most of the time these days she would just let smalltime creeps run off, and when she did decide to pull her share of the team's weight, she made sure that her opponents were not turned in to the authorities until they were reduced to a bloody wreck for presuming to waste the heroine's time. Hego called it excessive, Shego called it efficient.

Be that as it may, she was under no delusions that her brothers were becoming increasingly wary of her and her actions, and she admitted that they were right to. She didn't like the kind of person she was becoming. She had never used to be so bitter, so angry, so disillusioned with _everything_. Team Go, school, her home, she had nowhere to turn to anymore where she could just be herself. Where she was the one to set her own expectations. The _one_ person in the world who loved Shego for just being herself was ravaged in her arms on Death's door, and it was all **her fault!**

Being a hero with green skin didn't really help maintaining a hidden identity either. Any villain with even the slightest trace of common sense could find her if they really put there mind to it. Hego was a complete idiot if he thought that going by an alias and wearing a black mask fooled anyone but Aviarius. Shego remembered back when Dyno-Saur burst in on their front room when the lot of them was just lounging around at home, _not_ the Go-Tower, their _home_. After Dyno-Saur there was also Subterraniac, Tri-Face, Blasting-Zone, she could go on. Shego couldn't believe how many masked psychopaths she had had to deal with outside of her green-and-blacks. Bogeyman had been the first to go directly after Agni though, which made all the difference. In the end however, it all came down to one thing;

_Being a hero is putting Agni in front of a firing squad._

Shego's train of though was cut off when she saw the building entryway twenty feet in front of her, which was a blessed thing considering that the entire building was finally starting to come down on the two. Without pause, she charged forwards while crumbling foundation collapsed all around them. The passageway got closer and closer but even still, Shego began to feel like despite that, she wouldn't be able to make it in time. Then something terrible happened, the entryway started to give way.

_I'm not going to make it!_

At her full sprinting speed, Shego could have just barely have made it in time, however having to constantly jump over obstacles and avoid falling debris was slowing her down terribly, and it was going to cost her in the long run. Before she had a chance to lose hope a very familiar flickering blue light filled her vision, accompanied by a massive form supporting the crumbling entryway. There was only one person in the world strong enough to do so, Hego.

"Shego, hurry up, this whole thing is coming down, **now!**" He shouted over, his voice strained from maintaining such immense weight on his shoulders.

Shego certainly didn't need to be told twice. She adjusted the weight in her arms and bolted for it crumbling passage crossing beneath Hego's thick right arm and not stopping until she was greeted by her other three siblings on the slick, wet blacktop. With a strained roar, Hego let go of the frame and threw himself backwards just as the entire unfinished complex finished coming down in a pile of crushed concrete, rebar, and twisted girders. When the smoke finally cleared, her brothers all stood around her with varying degrees of surprise, or shock.

Mego looked over at the remains of the destroyed construction site before casting an annoyed look in Shego's direction. "Subtle, Shego, really subtle."

The Wego's were the first to notice whom Shego held tightly in her arms. The twins quickly ran up to their big sister in undisguised worry. "Sis, what happened, why is Agni here?" asked one. "What happened to her, should we call an ambulance?" asked the other.

Shego quickly backed up in order to maintain her precious space, and flashed the twins a warning look. "Back off, got it?" They quickly complied.

She thought for a moment. An inquisitive glance showed that Agni's wound had completely scabbed over, and even that was starting to fade, however, she still needed to get some nutrients back into her system as soon as possible. Shego didn't (and wouldn't) admit it, but she was utterly exhausted, she completely lacked the energy to run Agni to the nearest clinic under her own power.

Resigning herself, she turned to Mego. "Call for an ambulance for me." It wasn't a request.

Mego scoffed and was about to say something, but the venomous look flashed in his direction was more than enough to shut him up completely. He pulled out his Go-Phone and made the call.

Shego sat down on the curb, and was surprised by how stiff she felt. It made sense though, she had been running and fighting for well over three hours straight, and on top of that she was emotionally drained. She gratefully took notice of the fact that Agni's breathing against her had become more regular, and less pained. Shego didn't know what trick Bogeyman had pulled to keep the girl unconscious, but she was partially glad for that. Agni probably would have been terrified out of her mind… and would have seen what had happened. If the Agni ever found out, Shego would be able to deal. She looked up when a large shadow fell over them.

"We came over here when we heard reports of bright _green_ _flashes_ and _explosions_. What went on here, Shego?" Hego asked sternly using his patented leader-voice. She flashed him an open glare.

"Bogeyman took Agni… he tried to use her to get at me."

Mego's eyes widened. "What? You mean that freak in black? I thought we threw him in a cell last week, he got out this quickly?"

Hego narrowed his eyes. "So Shego… where is he now?"

Her black lips pulled into a cruel smirk. "Hell would be my first guess."

The Wegos stepped back automatically, both at the news and at the cruelly blasé way their sister spoke. Hego's mouth hung open and he just stared, having trouble formulating his thoughts. Mego however, took the information far better then his brothers.

"Do you have any idea how poorly this is gonna reflect on us, or infinitely more important, on _me_?" He said placing his hand on his chest to emphasize his words.

Shego's expression once again became frighteningly negative. "Ask me how much I care? I double dare you."

Mego stepped back, not willing to press his luck. He had never seen Shego so angry before, and knew what kind of damage she was capable of when pushed to it, a good example of it being the fallen structure behind them. The closest he'd ever seen his big sister in such a state was when Hego tried to discipline that little bastard of her's when she'd spilled ink all over his tax forms. Shego nearly put her older brother through a wall that day. That event seemed tame when compared to her now.

Hego in spite of this didn't feel the need to show restraint like his three brothers. In his mind he was the leader, he was the oldest, and his word needed to be followed. "Shego, I can't believe that you… that you…" He couldn't find the words to give voice to his accusation.

Shego casually found the words for him. "Killed him? I believe those were the words you were looking for. I _killed_ him. Actually, to be specific, I ripped his _**fucking**_ head off!" Her eyes narrowed to back the vehemence of her statement. "And I'd give anything to do it again too."

"Shego!" Hego was able to exclaim little more then her name from the sheer morbidity of her statement.

"Don't you dare "Shego" _me_, Hego! You didn't have your kid _kidnapped_, threatened by a _psychopath_, and t-then, t…"She trailed off momentarily, catching herself in time from making a big mistake. "I just so sick of this crap! Y'know what? The next time someone tries that shit with me, I'll do worse then kill them! I hate this goody-two-shoes bullshit! It's running me ragged, and ruining the quality of my life. I'm so through with it! All of it! **I**. **AM**. **DONE**. Do you get me, _Leader_?"

Hego looked horrified at what his sister was implying. Mego sulked in the background, and the Wegos kept behind him to avoid their sister's cold gaze. The distant sound of an approaching siren attracted Shego's attention away from her siblings, which they were all secretly grateful for. She looked down at the tiny sleeping face resting quietly in her arms, nodded resolutely, and stood, making her way towards the approaching ambulance. Or at least she intended to before Hego ran up and snagged her shoulder.

"You have one second to drop that hand Hego."

"Shego, you can't just quit, were not just a team, we're _family_! Heroes don't kill people, and Heroes don't _quit_!" He stated desperately.

Any further arguments on his part were cut off when a green and black elbow all but buried itself into his stomach. Hego face turned blue (or at least bluer), he heaved holding his wounded abdomen and fell hard to his knees. After taking a moment to regain the wind, which was knocked from him, he looked up to see his sister's retreating form.

"Then I guess that means I'm no hero." Was all she had to say to her siblings as she made her way towards the waiting ambulance.

It was years before she saw her brothers again.

(Possible Residence: Current Time)

Shego leaned up against the side of the house, her eyes glazed over in remembrance of that night.

_Who would have thought that leaving would be the easy part… Well, now to get down to business, I've had enough pointless reminiscence. Leaving Team Go was the best thing I've ever done and I don't regret it. I have a glamorous stress free life now, a job that I love… and a kid that I never get to see… Wow, I really suck at these pep talks, don't I?_

Shego was shook from her troubling inner monologue by a clear and familiar young voice. "You can come out now, Shego. I sent Agni inside to clean herself off."

_What? How did she-?_

Shego scowled and crossed her arms. She stood up marched over to where the smug redhead stood in the middle of the yard, her expression tense. Kim regarded her with the same guarded hostility. They were still enemies after all. A day and a half of common interests wouldn't change that. Kim raised her eyebrow at the stalking thief and smirked smugly.

"Your nowhere near as sneaky as you like to think, Shego."

The green ex-hero scoffed. "Just keep thinking that, Pumpkin. See how far that thinking gets you in the future. And to set things straight, the only reason you figured out I was over there is because I'm having a really off day." Her right hand made a fist. "That doesn't mean I not in the mood to beat you down though."

The redheaded hero sighed and shook her head. "As much as I'd like to drag you kicking a screaming to a nice prison cell, I think we both know why you're here."

Agreeing on the inside, Shego decided that now certainly wasn't a good time for posturing. She lowered her guard enough to manage what in her opinion warranted civilized discussion. "Your right. I'm here about Agni."

"Obviously," Kim said. There wasn't any other possible reason for her rival's impromptu visit. "I'd like to talk to you about her too."

They talked, completely unaware that a third pair of green eyes observed the hero and the thief the entire time.

Chapter 7: End

Once again, If anyone has any ideas to help bulk up this story, don't hesitate to PM me.


	8. Resolve

Your standard legal disclaimer thing: I don't own Kim Possible. I will remove this story off the net if they give me shit. Blah blah blah, yada yada yada. You all know the drill by now.

Small Surprises, Big Consequences

Chapter 8: Resolve

(The Possible Backyard: Five Minutes Ago)

_Being green does have its benefits; _Agni thought as her skin tone helped to keep her well blended in with the bushes she was hiding behind. The vantage point she had found allowed her complete cover from prying eyes, and a clear view to watch what appeared to be a very tense conversation between her Mother, whom she openly adored, and Kim Possible who she was annoyed and frustrated by to no end.

Earlier, when Kim had so abruptly told the pale-green girl to go inside and clean up, Agni knew that the hero had been hiding something. Kim's instructions just didn't hold water considering that she was not even that dirty in her honest personal opinion. It took a great deal more than some tumbling around to get her to build up a sweat of any kind, especially in autumn weather. There was no reason at all for Kim to tell her to go on ahead that the pale girl could think of, unless she wanted Agni gone for something _private_.

Understanding that any vocalization of her suspicions would only result in half-baked excuses, Agni appeared to do as she had been instructed but really had no intention of following Kim's directions without finding out what exactly had prompted them in the first place. The exact instant that Agni felt that the redhead's attention was off her, the green girl was in full sneak-mode and hidden well away, just watching and waiting. She remembered how when she was younger she would always sneak up on and surprise her Uncle Mego because she loved the sound of the girly shriek he would make when she would pop out, it was something that her Wego Uncles had taught her to do. Her twin Uncles were always the best for fun things like that, when they were around at least. Of her Uncles, she greatly preferred them to the two alternatives, but on the other hand, it was not a hard contest to win.

Mego seemed to hate kids as a general rule so that meant that having been forced to live with one for several years just resulted in him complaining about Agni every chance the violet man got. _Of course, not that he needs an excuse to complain about everything anyway. _What really bothered the hell out of Agni regarding her Uncle Mego was his secret nickname for her that he thought no one knew about, "My Sister's Bastard". When Agni had first read that in his journal, she hadn't known what a "bastard" even was, but she could tell that it was certainly some kind of insult if it was anything. Later when she found out its definition, it was not quite as bad as she had thought, but it was still hurtful. Agni was glad when he finally had the good grace to move out.

Hego she disliked for an entirely different set of reasons. He was pompous, arrogant, and always thought he knew what was best for everyone despite the fact that he was almost thirty and still living with his parents and working at a fast-food restaurant. He was also completely vapid and a total comic book nerd. When Agni was ten, she had actually confronted him with her problems at school. Either he hadn't gotten it, or he simply didn't want to get it, but all he had done was smile wistfully, say "Ahh, the joys of childhood," and sent her on her way with the parting advice that she should, "Cherish these precious moments." What she did cherish was that later that night she put dog poo in his shoes. Agni certainly cherished _that_ precious moment.

The Wegos however were actually always pretty nice to her, all things considered. It probably had something to do with their generally gregarious demeanor, but it was still appreciated. They always insisted she drop the "Uncle" title when it came to them and just call them Wego. They even once said that Agni was easier to think of as a baby sister rather than as a niece since the alternative made them feel old. She never could quite get the hang of that. The only problem was that they were always so busy, and all over the place. The Wegos had an active social life, and were full-time college students living it up in some dorm outside of Go City. It was a cruel joke that the only family she could enjoy outside of her Mother was never around when she needed them.

Agni's train of thought was suddenly derailed from the proverbial tracks when she heard Kim call out a very familiar name. Her green eyes widened and snapped in the direction that Kim called out towards, somewhere around the side of the house. Slowly much to Agni's shock, Shego appeared from around the corner, approaching Kim at a guarded pace and stopping when there was ten feet between them, a perfect lunging distance if needed.

_How the hell did she find me so quickly? _The twelve-year-old thought in open amazement. She had thought she had bought herself at least three days to herself, but apparently, she had managed only about nine hours. It was a humbling realization. _Did she have me bugged or something?_

Agni had never pegged Kim as a very dangerous person, even with her notable skills taken into account. She just didn't have the killer instinct that the pale girl found necessary in her Mother's line of work, and she herself had in abundance. However, her opinion of the cheerleader began to disintegrate when she saw how the two regarded one another. It was as though Kim's personality had done a complete one-eighty. Any warmth on her face fell away until all that remained was the razor-edged skill and the intent to use them. It was disconcerting for Agni to say the least.

_I guess a girl her age doesn't smash up sociopath nut-jobs on a semi-daily basis without having something to show for it._

She cast her emerald gaze towards Shego, and was met with an equally conflicting mess of emotions. Shego had also dropped any semblance of the motherly compassion Agni associated her so closely with, and replaced it with a tense rigid ferocity hidden underneath a thin layer of icy indifference. Chills ran up the preteen's spine just looking at Shego.

_That's my Mom?_

It was strange; large parts of her wanted to abandon her vantage point, run forward and throw her arms around her Mother's waist like she had done back in Nevada. Seeing her standing there, so close, made her innards twist tightly. However, another part of her was honestly frightened of the woman's current state; she had never seen her Mother look so cold.

_This must be Mom when I'm not around… Scary._

The two exchanged what the girl could only assume was standard banter before the inevitable fight. To the green preteen's surprise, the volatile situation was defused when Kim made mention of why Shego had shown up in the first place. The moment her name had been thrown out amidst the posturing, both Kim and her Mother's aggressive auras dropped entirely, almost like flipping a light switch. It was a disorienting sight for any observer how quickly the two were able to go from being moments away from tearing into one another, to what could go for civilized (albeit guarded) conversation.

Among many things about the current situation unfolding in front of her, the thing that had Agni's most rapt attention was that the topic of conversation was she. What exactly were they going to decide? Kim hadn't come up with any kind of plan that Agni knew about, and her Mother had made it very clear last night what she intended to do over the phone. What other options were there? There were no other options; she was going to be thrown to the wolves. It was stupid to think that Shego could have done anything for her in the first place. All the pale-green girl could do was settle in behind the bush and watch her destiny unfold.

(The Backyard: Now)

"So," Kim started, clearly lost for where to begin. "About Agni…"

"Yeah," Shego added, looking equally uncomfortable. "About her…"

"I guess you're planning to take her back to her Grandparent's, right?" Kim decided to ask flat out. Her attention was on the toes of her shoes rather than looking Shego in the eye.

"Well I don't_want_ to," Shego stated defensively, "but I don't have much of a choice."

"Yes, you do!" Kim all but shouted looking up into Shego's eyes, with more force than she had actually intended shocking the both of them. Kim didn't allow herself to waste any embarrassment on her outburst before continuing. "You and I both know that. Why can't you just take her back?"

"Oh, I don't know," Shego said laying on the heavy sarcasm. "Being a fugitive who is wanted in several countries does not have _anything_ to do with it." She stated coldly making a dismissive hand gesture to enforce her point.

Kim furrowed her brow in open annoyance. "I think we both know that that wouldn't stop you," She crossed her arms. "You could take her back if you really wanted it."

"No I couldn't!" Shego all but shouted, abandoning her indifference for anger. She took several steps forward so that she was nearly on top of Kim. "You just don't get it do you?"

Kim looked up at the taller woman unfazed or intimidated by the close proximity. "Yeah, you're right, I _don't_ get it." The redhead snapped back. "Why don't you just _explain_ it to me?"

"Listen you! I," Shego unexpectedly cut her next words off before she could finish what would likely have been a scathing insult. Instead she slowly took a step back to regain her space and shook her head. "…It's just… I wouldn't be good for her, okay? Trust me; I'd make a lousy parent." Shego turned away from Kim's olive gaze.

Surprised by Shego's change in attitude, Kim calmed herself down and chose her next words quickly. "You'd do worse than the alternative?"

Shego inclined her head back up so that she could regard Kim with a cautious sideways glance. "And what do _you_ know about the alternative?" She asked suspiciously.

"Honestly?" Kim shrugged, "Not much more than Agni's highly edited version." She walked around so that she could meet Shego eye-to eye. "But I do know that it was bad enough to make a twelve-year-old girl run across three states just to find you!"

Shego opened her mouth to retort but stopped when she realized she had nothing to say to counter the redhead's argument. "…"

Seeing an opening, Kim jumped for it, "Can't you just reconsider?"

Shego scoffed and looked down into Kim's olive-green eyes. "Why do you care so much- no, scratch that, I forgot that you were such a goody-goody control freak."

"And you're a kleptomaniac sociopath!" Kim retorted back automatically, before realizing it. Responding to Shego's insults had over the years become a reflexive action.

"Yeah," Shego said, finding her own opening in Kim's argument. "And that tends to be poor mother material, wouldn't you agree?" She added with well-practiced spite.

Kim sighed and shook her head, giving up on the aggressive approach. Shego obviously treated every exchange of words the same way she treated physical combat; never giving an inch. Kim would have to try for the moral high ground. "I'm just trying to look out for Agni's best interests."

"Yeah," Shego finally said, mellowing some at Kim's bold statement. That was a sentiment she could certainly agree with. "Me too."

"She seems to think you'd do a much better job than her Grandparents, that's for sure." Kim stated sounding confused by the notion. Honestly, she still had trouble seeing the pale thief raising anyone, especially someone who so openly hero-worshipped her.

The corners of Shego's black lips tugged upwards despite her best efforts. "She was four when we last saw each other in person. She's idealized me, that's all."

"Well that's true, considering the facts" Kim said smiling impishly.

"Hah, you're a riot, Cupcake." Shego stated dryly. Suddenly her attention moved elsewhere, she seemed to be looking around the backyard as though in search of something, Kim however didn't notice. She was busy working up the courage to ask Shego something very personal.

"Hey…" Kim finally said, getting the woman's attention away from whatever she was looking around for. "Why did you leave in the first place?" She managed to ask, much to Shego's visible displeasure with the change in topic. Despite this, the redhead continued unabated. "Agni told me-"

"Hold up." Shego said, cutting Kim off with a hand gesture. She walked over the one of the bushes in the backyard, before shoving her hand through the branches and pulling free the struggling form of her daughter, lifting her up by the hood of her sweatshirt. Through Kim's surprise, she saw the image as reminiscent of a mother cat holding her kitten by the scruff of her neck. Although, Kim honestly doubted that kittens struggled quite as much when lifted. Shego finally dropped Agni, and the young girl barely managing the grace needed to land on her feet instead of her bottom.

Shego regarded her with the same strict appearance Kim had seen Anne regard her with a hundred times in the past. "Agni, go inside!" Shego stated pointing at the house.

"Grrr, how did you even know I was here?" Agni whined in open disbelief. As far as the girl could tell, she hadn't made a single noise and been under complete cover. The only way Shego could have known where she was was if she had been aware ahead of time, and that was impossible. That meteor gave them many things but X-Ray vision certainly was _not_ one of them.

"Because I'm that good." Shego said smirking. Internally she reevaluated her own strict attitude regarding the small eavesdropper. Kneeling down so that she was eye to eye with her estranged daughter, Shego placed both gloved hands on her shoulders. "Listen, I'll talk to you when you finish cleaning up, but until then give the adults some privacy, okay Kid?"

After a moment of silent consideration, Agni looked Shego in her eyes before slowly nodding. Shego smiled which by itself managed to lift the young girl's spirits, before she turned for the houses backdoor. Before stepping inside, she turned around and regarded Kim silently for a moment, before sticking her tongue out at the cheerleader (for forms sake, if nothing else). Kim just sighed in defeat. Beating one Shego was nearly impossible, two however…

"Tsk, Adults…" Agni grumbled as she entered the Possible residence.

Finally finding them with some much-needed privacy, Kim was about to restate her earlier inquiry before something confusing occurred to her. "How did you know she was hiding there? _I_ didn't even notice." Kim doubted that Shego's senses were much more in tune than her own were, but she had not had any idea that they were being watched.

The thief smirked and dismissed the question with an overly cryptic statement. "It's a mother-daughter thing."

(Possible Residence: Earlier that Afternoon)

Jim and Tim were used too many unusual things, most of which involving their older sister in some way, but they could lay claim to their own share of oddities. They were genius engineers despite their young age, and had even occasionally (forcibly) inserted themselves in their sister's active hobby of world saving. Throughout there relatively short lives they had helped face down blue mad scientists, mutant bees (of their own creation), and even giant toy devil-robots. Each time they managed to maintain a cool and collected, albeit, reckless, attitude towards whatever it was that they currently faced.

However, even despite all of this impressive experience, they were both still completely thrown off their game when the mysterious girl who had appeared yesterday afternoon left Kim's attic room and pushed past them as she headed towards the bathroom. They both were quick to note that she was sporting a new pale-green complexion as opposed to her off-white skin tone from yesterday. The dark-haired girl cast the two Tweebs an annoyed, dismissive glance as she closed the bathroom door, as though she lived there. Moments later they heard the telltale noise of the shower nozzle emanate from within. Jim and Tim stared at the closed door blankly for well over a minute before Tim looked over at Jim.

"Hey Jim, am I going crazy-"

"Yes", Jim answered in a somewhat distracted voice cutting his brother off.

Tim smirked, and shook his head; "I was _going_ to say, am I going crazy or was that girl a different color yesterday?"

Jim nodded, "Yeah. I guess she was wearing makeup or something." The barely-older brother reasoned.

"I think she must have spent the night, huh?" Tim stated. When he wasn't favored with a response he turned and addressed Jim with a questioning look. Jim seemed lost in his own head as he looked over at where the girl had disappeared. For some reason, Tim found that disconcerting.

"Jim?" he asked.

Jim quickly turned towards his brother in surprise. "Huh? What did you say?"

Tim sighed in annoyance. "I said that I think that weird girl stayed the night."

Jim nodded. "Yeah, must have…" His face lit up suddenly with an idea. "Hey! Let's ask Sis who that girl is." In Tim's opinion, Jim seemed a bit overeager under the circumstance.

_What is with him all of a sudden?_

Tim craned his eyebrow. "Why? She's probably just another random person Sis is helping. I don't think there's anything special about her."

Jim frowned slightly and shrugged. "I dunno… it's not like we have much better to do, right? Don't you at least want to know why she's green?"

Tim looked at Jim in wide-eyed astonishment. "Nothing better to do? Weren't we going to work on that force-field generator? And after that we were gonna finish work on Mech-Twin's right arm."

_Wasn't it__** his**__ idea that we finish all that by tonight so that we could test it tommorow?_

Jim shook his head. "I didn't forget about that stuff, but this won't take a second."

Seeing how set on this Jim seemed, Tim decided to concede. After all, it _was_ another opportunity to bother their Sister, even if it was under a pretext that Tim wasn't particularly found of. Jim's sudden interest in that girl was, if nothing else, vexing for the younger twin. He just didn't get it. Tim was shaken from his reverie when he noticed his other half had already run up the stairs leading to Kim's door, and never one to be left behind; Tim abandoned his current thoughts and ran up next to his brother.

The both started knocking (or in Kim's opinion banging) on her door. From inside they heard the clearly annoyed sound of their older sibling's voice cut through the noise. "Get lost, Tweebs!" she shouted over at them.

"What was that, Sis?" asked Jim coyly.

"We can't hear you," added Tim playing off his brother. This always managed to get to Kim within the first three minute. In Tim's head, the inevitable would play out as it always did. Kim would open the door, probably threaten them with a painfully slow death, and then chase them around the house in a futile attempt to enact said threat. Their sister was nothing if not predictable.

"When I get out there I'm gonna make the stuff from _Splatter Mall_ look like _Babes in Toy Land_!" Kim shouted, slamming her door open and preparing to rush her annoying younger siblings. She halted however, when she saw that neither of the two had scattered in different directions, as she had grown accustomed to. Instead, the two of them just grinned up at her impishly.

"Hey Sis," said Tim.

"We want to ask you something," added Jim.

"What's up with that girl?" They both finished in unison. They both knew how it annoyed Kim when they talked like that, which only meant that they practiced at it for that very reason. Secretly Tim could have cared less about that girl, but Jim for some reason was curious and when in front of their Sister they needed to keep up the appearance of a united front at all times.

Looking confused, Kim craned her eyebrow suspiciously. "Why do you care?"

"Humor us," said Tim.

"We're curious," added Jim.

Their older sister frowned and shook her head. "No way. I don't know what you two are up to but I want know part of it. It's none of your business anyway."

"At least tell me her name!" Jim suddenly blurted out before Kim had a chance to shut her door. The almost pleading undertone in his voice caused both Kim and Tim to look at Jim in surprise. That unsettling feeling Tim had been experiencing earlier came back with full force. Jim had never shown such interest in anyone else before.

_No one outside of us at least…_

Kim stared blankly, before visibly shaking herself out of it and regarding Jim with an unreadable look. "Her name's Agni."

"Agni?" Jim asked, and then smirked when Kim nodded. "Thanks Kim!" He then grabbed Tim by the arm and bolted off towards their room before Kim had a chance to say anything else.

When they finally reached their room, Tim looked at Jim as though he thought the other was from Mars. "What's with you today?" He exclaimed.

Jim furrowed his brow. "Nothing's with me. Hey, let's finish up the shield-generator's grav-shifter," he said quickly changing the subject. He walked towards their current improvised workstation and picked up one of the tools they had filched from their father. He started working happily on the complex machinery with a strange smile on his face.

Tim regarded Jim for well over a minute before finally making his way to his usual place by his brother's side. Even next to one another, for Tim the space between them was a much greater distance then was comfortable.

(Possible Residence: Three hours later)

After several hours of labor, the Tweebs decided to take a break from their work on Project: Mecha-Twin and go downstairs for a quick snack. Honestly, Tim was more than grateful for the distraction. For the last three hours, ever since earlier that afternoon, Jim had been totally spacey and distracted, and as far as Tim was concerned it had been that girl, Agni's fault. She was the reason that Jim wasn't acting like himself, and Tim decided that he wanted nothing to do with her. He honestly hoped that whatever Kim was doing for her, she finished soon. Then Agni could leave, and Jim could get back on track.

Ironically the two females in question were the first things the twins saw when then were making their way towards the kitchen. Both stopped dead in their tracks at the unusual sight. Their sister and that Agni-girl were in a fight. Not only that, but Agni's hands were glowing with the same green aura as that crazy lady Kim was always dealing with. The two both ran to the window to watch, Tim just watched out of mere curiosity and the opportunity to see a good fight, but had he looked over at his brother, he would have seen the weird smirk on his face. Jim wasn't focused on the fight so much as he was focused on the girl.

After a minute or two Kim stopped the match and said something to Agni that neither twin could hear. The pale girl shrugged and made her way towards the door, disappearing from view of the window. Kim to their surprise walked off in a completely different direction seconds later. Tim smirked.

_Maybe she's going home…_

Jim frowned when Tim pulled him in the direction of the kitchen, reminding him of why they came downstairs in the first place. With nothing further for them to witness Jim begrudgingly conceded. They sat at the table with two ham sandwiches and a bag of barbeque potato chips in front of them eating in awkward silence.

It was Jim who broke the ice. "Wasn't she cool!" he exclaimed. Tim didn't need to ask whom he meant. They had both seen Kim fight a million times, so he wouldn't have gotten so excited over that. He could only have meant that girl.

Tim shrugged dismissively. "She was okay, Kim was winning though."

Jim frowned. "Kim _always_ wins; I just meant that I thought it was cool that Agni could fight like that." He took another big bite from his sandwich.

Tim sighed but than remembered something he wanted to say. "Didn't you notice anything _familiar_ about that weird green fire stuff she was doing? It was just like that crazy rival Kim has. I bet there's a connection."

Once again Tim wasn't favored with an immediate response. He looked up from his own sandwich only to see Jim once again lost in thought. He frowned. "Jim!"

Jim looked over at his brother and frowned. "What? Oh, yeah… That green power, I guess there might be a connection." He shrugged and stood to throw his now empty paper plate in the recycling bin. Tim soon joined him, and that was when the girl in question burst in through the back door.

Jim and Tim quickly backed away as the current object of their observations; a fuming green twelve-year-old of the fairer sex, walked past them grumbling to her self and glaring at the two boys as she walked by. Agni made her way over to the living room couch before practically throwing herself along its length, crossing her arms, and glaring bloody death at the far wall. They could almost see a black rain cloud hovering over the preteen. Even a blind, deaf and mute person could tell that the girl was pissed off beyond all reason.

Despite all of these warning signs, Jim just grinned and hurried off in Agni's direction, or at least he had intended to before Tim snagged his arm. Jim looked over at his brother in annoyance. "What are you doing?"

Tim regarded Jim with a look that showed how obvious his intentions should have been to his brother. "Think about it, if she's connected to that Shego lady, than isn't it possible that she's evil too?"

Jim shook his head. "I think there's an age requirement for evil. You have to be eighteen or older, something like that."

"There is not!"

"Is so!"

"Is not!"

Jim pulled himself free of his brother's grasp and looked at Tim in annoyance. "Well, we'll never know if we don't talk to her, right? C'mon, where's your sense of adventure?"

_Back upstairs with our science projects, not down here with some creepy girl, _Tim thought, but he didn't have the heart to say it out loud. He begrudgingly followed behind his arrant brother towards the girl propped across the couch.

Agni seemed to have calmed down some compared when she had first entered and caste her death gaze in Jim and Tim's direction. Now she just lay there with her eyes closed and her arms crossed. The only indication that she hadn't fallen asleep was her brow was furrowed as though mentally she were sorting through several troubling thoughts. Tim could relate. When the twins stopped along the side of the couch, the girl opened her left eye halfway to look over at them before closing it and basically dismissing them outright.

Jim cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head before speaking. His voice was slightly stilted, and overly hesitant. "Hey… um, Kim said your name was Agni, right? …So, uh… Hi!" He finally said, opting to open with a traditional albeit dull greeting. Tim rolled his eyes and suppressed a sigh. Agni didn't do anything at all, acting like she hadn't heard him in the first place.

Undeterred, Jim continued. "Um, Oh! I'm Jim by the way, and this is Tim," he said jerking his thumb in Tim's direction. A pointless gesture considering Agni's eyes had yet to open since checking to see who had approached her. "I- I mean _we_," he quickly corrected, "We were… um…"

Without bothering to open her eyes, the pale girl finally spoke, "What the hell do you want?" Agni asked pointblank, cutting Jim off before he had a chance to finish what would undoubtedly have been more babbling and/or stuttering. Tim thought it was a disgraceful display, and he intended to ride Jim about it in private, but as always, keeping up a united front was the higher priority.

Undaunted by her harsh tone, Jim continued with more confidence since he had just been presented with evidence that the girl had at least been paying attention. "Well, it's not often Kim deals with people our age, 'cept maybe Wade. I- I mean _we_, were curious about what you needed her for?"

Agni frowned and finally did open her eyes, casting a curious look in Jim's direction. "You help her out or somethin?" She asked.

Jim blinked unsure of the context behind the question, so Tim answered on his behalf. "Sometimes, but not really. Mostly we just mess with her."

Agni sat up and glared at the both of them. "Well then, I guess that makes it none of your business, doesn't it?"

"Oh, I see." Jim said, he thought for a moment before finally smiling. "That stuff you did with Kim earlier was really killer. That fighting I mean..."

Visibly Agni was thrown off by the complement. She stared for a moment, blinking before turning away and shrugging. "Ah, um… okay." She answered. It seemed to Tim that she didn't know what to do in the event of a compliment considering her reaction. Seeing an opening presented by his brother, Tim threw out the question that had been bothering him since he'd seen her fight.

"How did you do that fire thing?" he asked sounding slightly more inquisitive than he had intended for. He backed up slightly as two emerald eyes were flashed in his direction.

"Also none of your business." She stated clearly. Her refusing to answer made Tim frown.

_What does a girl our age have to hide? Maybe she was some kind of government science experiment, or a half grown Shego clone. Better to ask than not._

"Do you know this crazy evil woman Kim's always beating up named Shego?" Tim asked glaring accusingly and ignoring his brother's startled look of protest.

Agni's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets but once the initial shock wore off, they slowly narrowed into fierce slits. Her next words were spoken through grit teeth. "What would make you think something stupid like that?"

"It is stupid, right? Haha…" Jim said inserting himself between the two of them to try to salvage the situation. His next words came out rushed. "So, Agni, um, where do you go to school?"

This was apparently a stupid question to ask, and Agni turned her glare in Jim direction that time. "Y'know what?" Agni asked, "I'm sick and tired of question-and-answer time. So how bout we play a new game?" A disturbing grin split across her face.

Neither quite catching the hint, Jim smiled and nodded. "Okay, what game?"

Her hands suddenly ignited with a burning jade flash. "Tag, and I'm it."

(The Tweebs Room: Moments Later)

Jim and Tim finally skidded to a halt within the sanctuary of their room, wasting no time slamming and holding the door shut. Both were breathing hard and wisps of green smoke were trailing from the seat of Jim's pants. Out of breath Tim slid against the door to the carpet breathing hard, while Jim remained standing, leaning his head against the door. Tim favored the green smoke trails with a glance.

"Jim, you're on fire."

Distracted Jim responded halfheartedly, "Am I?" He looked over his shoulder at the smoking hole on his jeans before absently patting away the embers.

"That could have gone better," He said in a dejected tone, "a _lot_ better."

Tim dismissed the statement with a hand gesture. "Well, at least we know that even if she isn't evil, which I doubt, she's at least completely out of her mind," the younger twin stated matter-of-factly. "And creepy." He added as an aside.

Jim looked down at Tim in disapproval. "She's _not_ creepy Tim, _I_ think she's pretty cool."

"Jim, she's able to blow stuff up with her hands, _us_ in fact, not to mention her skin is _green_!" Tim pleaded with Jim, trying to convince him of what seemed obvious.

Jim scoffed. "What's wrong with green? I _like_ green!" he stated, pointing at his green t-shirt.

"You would." Tim said, annoyed. His brother wasn't making any sense at all. "Why are you so interested anyway?"

Jim smirked, "Isn't it obvious? She is _really_ cute."

Tim sighed and banged his head against the door defeated. "Jim, you're hopeless."

(Downstairs, Living Room: Now)

Agni smiled despite herself and reclined back against the couch, thinking back on the look on those Tweeb's (Agni found the title appropriate) faces as they ducked and dodged low-output energy bolts. She had to applaud their agility, they managed to avoid nearly all of them, save one, and that had only been because the one with the green shirt stopped and looked over at her for some reason that Agni couldn't fathom. His vexing behavior didn't stay her hand though as she landed a scathing hit right on his butt.

In retrospect she was mildly upset about that, to be honest. Jim had been _almost_ okay, by her standards at least. For some unknown reason he seemed like he had honestly been trying to be friendly. It was weird as hell, but not exactly the bad kind of weird and she could forgive his question about her school since he probably didn't know better than to bring that _Pit_ up in conversation with her.

Also being complimented by him felt… she wasn't sure exactly, but certainly not unpleasant. It was rare for her to be complimented on anything she did. She was usually either yelled at for her actions or ignored, never praised. It was a unique experience.

The other brother however, Tim, was a little brat who didn't know when to keep his big mouth clamped shut. He had been the one she was aiming for the most, and Agni was frustrated that she hadn't pegged him like she intended to. And that thing he had said about her Mother, that she was a; "crazy evil woman Kim's always beating up," what the hell? What audacity! What nerve he had.

_I should have burned his eyebrows off for that. Y'know what? I think I __**will**__ burn his eyebrows off! It'll serve as an important lesson in freakin manners!_

She was about to mentally go into all the nasty things she intended to do to Tim Possible, but her vengeful thoughts were suddenly cut off by the sound of the back door opening, and the approaching rhythm of a pair of light footfalls. Startled, Agni suddenly stood up straight, fidgeting her hands behind her back, and tried to keep herself from panicking. Seconds later the familiar form of Shego stepped into the room with her. The woman's expression was difficult to discern for the young girl.

On the one hand her Mother wasn't frowning which was certainly a good thing, but she wasn't smiling either, which _wasn't_ such a good thing. Agni's mind was a maelstrom of panicked thoughts as she tried desperately to figure out what degree of bad news she was about to hear. The possibility that it might have been _good_ news never once occurred within the pale-green girl's mind.

_This is it… this is where my vacation comes to a crashing halt. Well, I tried I guess, no one can say I didn't try…_

Shego held her hand out and Agni reached up hesitantly to take hold the offered appendage. She looked up at her Mother with wide, troubled eyes and finally asked the question that had been eating up at her from the inside for the last fifteen minutes.

"Are… are we going back, to Go I mean?" He voice was hesitant, troubled by all the things waiting for her back home. She was able to derive little comfort from her Mother's warm hand.

When Shego finally nodded in affirmative, her heart felt like it crashed through the floor. She didn't have the strength in her to protest, or even show on her face what she was feeling inside, but somehow Shego could tell. The older woman smiled slightly and shook her head. "You've got the wrong idea, Kid."

Agni blinked, unsure what Shego meant by that. "What do you-" She cut her self off when she heard the sound of heavy footfalls running down the stairs and Kim appearing in the room carrying a light travel pack over her shoulder. The redheaded hero grinned.

"Okay, I'm all ready."

Agni blinked, completely lost as to what was going on around her. Agni looked up into Shego's emerald eyes and spoke out her confusion. "Mom? What's going on?"

Shego sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose before looking over in Kim's direction. "Were leaving for Go, but Kim's coming too."

Chapter 8: End

**Authors Notes: **As proof that I actually listen to people's suggestions, a certain suggestion given to me by FortressMaximus was used in this chapter. FM knows the one I mean, and I thank him for it. Also, a new and improved picture of Agni is up here: festum. deviantart. com/ art/ Agni-02-67709500


	9. Discomfort

Your standard legal disclaimer thing: I don't own Kim Possible. I will remove this story off the net if they give me shit. Blah blah blah, yada yada yada. You all know the drill by now.

Small Surprises, Big Consequences

Chapter 9: Discomfort

(Possible Residence: Now)

Kim watched as a moment of uncomfortable silence passed between the two green-skinned individuals, as the youngest of the pair digested what she had just been told. Agni looked back at Kim with her expression a perfect example of perplexity, focusing on Kim's over-night bag inquisitively before looking back up at Shego with a look of course indignation.

"Kim's coming _too_? What? _Why_?" She asked As though she were interrogating the older woman.

Not in the mood to deal with her young daughter's abrasive attitude, Shego just gave her best "stern parent" expression immediately cowing the preteen before saying in a tone that brooked no argument; "Get in the car and we'll explain, so hurry it up."

The whole affair was clearly stressing the thief beyond her already miniscule patience and it showed in her every word. Knowing when not to push her luck, Agni nodded obediently. She had brought nothing more than her pockets could hold so she didn't need to grab anything. Always the one to set the pace, Agni left the house first leaving Kim and Shego alone in the family room.

Kim smirked and looked over in Shego's direction. "Seeing you act like a mom still throws me."

Still more than a little irritated, Shego didn't bother to come up with something witty to throw back into the redhead's face, merely settling on the ever reliable, "Bite me, Possible."

Kim wasn't sure if it going back to Go that was putting the sable-haired woman into such a foul mood or if it was the stress brought back into her life by the resurfacing of her daughter. As far as Kim could tell, it was likely both in equal portions, and it showed all over the older woman's usually smirking face.

_Maybe I should tread lightly, at least for now. This is the still the same woman who constantly does her level best to flambé me alive. I can't forget that, we __**aren't**__ friends._

Kim and Shego walked side-by-side, as the made their way around the corner towards a very aggressive looking black sports car with green flames streaking across the sides. It didn't resemble any model Kim had ever seen, and honestly looked like it was just barely coasting the line of "street legal". Agni was leaning against the passenger door with her arms crossed and a look of open impatience marring her youthful features.

"Took yah long enough." She stated looking over at Kim as though it were the heroine's fault. Kim sighed and shook her head.

Shego walked over to the driver's side and pulled off her black glove, pressing her pale bare thumb over a metal plate in the place of the keyhole. Suddenly all the doors unlocked and the car roared to life, actually roar was an understatement, erupted was much more appropriate. The asphalt shook with the sudden cacophonous dissonance startling both Kim and Agni, the latter stumbling away from her place against the door tightly covering her ears. Thankfully, the engine settled down into a more acceptable rumble a moment later. Both Kim and Agni shot Shego a look of undisguised displeasure, which only served to solicit a smirk from the criminal.

"Blame Eddie, he built the damn thing." She said with arrogant decisiveness. She opened the door and easily slid into the driver's side. Agni pushed past Kim and got in the middle seat in the back, crossing her arms. As Kim slid in across from Shego, she reflected how unusual it was that Agni conceded the passenger side to the redhead without a fight._She probably just wanted her eyes on both of us at once. I doubt it was for any other reason._

Agni for her part looked back and forth between the two of them waiting for one or the other to say something as Shego pulled her monster-car away from the curb and started off towards Middleton's main street. After only a minute (ten if one were to ask her), Agni finally snapped out towards the two; "Okay, we're in the car so what's goin on?" the preteen demanded.

Both Kim and Shego exchanged an apprehensive look before Kim turned her olive eyes towards the pale girl. Were Shego not driving, she would have done the same. "Well… listen Agni, how much would you say that you hate that preppy school in Go?" Kim asked cautiously having decided to gauge from Agni's reaction how she would voice her following question.

In response the sable-haired preteen retreated inward, saying nothing, her expression was circumspect.

"Agni?" Kim asked after a minute, not sure how to take the twelve-year-old girl's silence.

In response, Agni looked up at her in annoyance and stated; "Gimme a sec, okay? I'm trying to find the right word to show just _how much_ I hate it." She said in frustration. "_Loathe_, _despise_, and _nauseate_ just don't seem to cover it."

Shego smirked from over in the driver's seat, in response to the young girl's attitude. "I'll take that as _a lot_." She said in amusement. Kim rolled her eyes at her rival's response before shifting the conversation back on topic.

"You see, Agni," she said levelly, "Shego and I were both talking and we came up with an idea of sorts."

The green girls' brow furrowed apprehensively before looking between Kim and Shego, "Kay, what idea?"

"Well…" Kim began trying to find the words before Shego cut her off completely.

"What if I could enroll you in a public school around here?" She asked point blank, causing Kim to glare in annoyance at her complete lack of tact. Agni though couldn't help but squeak out in excitement.

"What! Really? You serious, Mom? _Thanks, thank you_!" She stated quickly in excitement.

"Hold up, there's a catch." Shego said quickly briefly looking over her shoulder at the young girl and effectively dulling Agni's sudden elation.

The sable-haired girl's bright smile faded back towards apprehension and she asked with her voice filled with caution; "What kind of catch?"

Shego sighed and decided to drop the big bomb, loathing the fallout that would accompany it. "You'd have to stay with Kim," Shego finally said and then braced herself for the inevitable outburst.

Regarding said outburst Agni did not disappoint. First she stared blankly at the both of them before trying to figure what she might have heard instead of Shego's statement in case she had misinterpreted the older woman's words. Eventually she realized that she had heard correctly and that her mom wasn't joking either. That was when the dam finally burst.

"…**WHAT**! Why? Are you kidding? This has to be some kind of _joke_!"

"It's not a joke," Kim said calmly, "it's all we could think of on such short notice."

Agni turned her large emerald eyes in her mother's direction with a pleading look on her face. "But, why can't I just stay with you? I mean, what's the problem?"

Shego sighed and shook her head, wondering if it would be more appropriate to pull over the car while they have this talk. "I don't live anywhere near Middleton for one thing," she said evenly, "but there are other issues. It's just…" She trailed off, in no mood to go into the other complications in her life. They were between her and her mother and she planned to keep them there.

Agni frowned and looked down at her interlocked fingers before her eyes widened and she looked up suddenly. "Hey, wait a second! Isn't… I mean… You two hate each other, right?" She looked at Shego completely perplexed. "Isn't this idea crazy? She's always trying to put you in prison, and you're always trying to break her face, but it's still okay for me to stay with her? I don't get it."

Shego smirked humorlessly. "I actually don't really get it either, but what's between Kim and me hasn't got anything to do with you." _And I know you'll be safe with her_, she thought.

Kim nodded, "Right now, _you're_ the one were thinking about, consider the stuff between me and Shego on hold. I told you before, it doesn't matter to me who your parents are, and helping people is what I do."

Shego wanted to gag when she heard that but suppressed the urge. Whenever Kim put on the goody-goody routine it made her skin crawl.

Ignoring the disgusted look on Shego's face Kim added, "We have a guest room no one ever uses, and I doubt my parents would complain."

Still reeling from what she had just heard, Agni stared up at Kim blankly before slowly blinking. When she finally spoke her voice was quiet and subdued, "You're serious? You'd go that far for a complete stranger? Are you insane?"

"Well there_ are_ some conditions." Kim said with an impish smile.

"Like?" Agni asked wondering what kind of horrible things were about to come out of the redhead's mouth.

"No fighting, no skipping school, and _especially_ no running off into the night all by yourself." Kim said in all seriousness. Agni nearly choked on her spit from surprise. _That's it? That's all she wants?_

"It's really up to you, Kid." Shego said, wondering what her young daughter would choose, but if she knew her as well as she thought she did the pale thief had a pretty good idea.

"…Even if I say yes," Agni finally said, "why are we heading back to Go then?"

"Because _technically_ your Grandma is your legal guardian so we'd need her _permission_." Shego practically spat the word as though it tasted like canola oil. "Kimmie insists we keep this legal for some reason." She added annoyed.

Kim was about to say something in her defense back at Shego, but the jade preteen in the backseat cut her off.

"W-what if Gram says no?" She asked, her voice stuttering slightly despite her best efforts.

"Oh she won't." Shego said threateningly as she glared out at the open road, the tires squealed as she abruptly cut another car off. Kim grimaced and tried to shrug off the indignant honking in the background.

"I think if I just talk to her I could get her to agree." Kim said optimistically. Honestly, how hard could it be, she was sure that she could get Agni's grandparents to see reason. _I wonder why they only seem worried about the grandmother? It's almost as though the grandfather has no say in the matter. Well, we'll see I guess._

"As if." Both Agni and Shego scoffed in perfect unison. Their expressions were so similar that Kim shuddered unconsciously. It was like two Shegos. Just having one around was already hard enough to deal with.

"So," Shego finally asked, briefly looking back over her shoulder. "Do you want to?" She smiled when she turned her head back towards the road. She knew the girl's answer already, and although the circumstances were far from ideal, they were still a step up and that was all that mattered.

In Agni's head, she carefully weighed her options as she figured them to be. On the one hand, she could simply go back to that prison of a home where no one trusted her, and that awful preppy school hell-bent on breaking her spirit. That option almost made her want to laugh out loud. If she stayed there eventually she'd end up burning that academy to the ground. Another option was her original second plan to simply run off into the night so she'd be free to fend for herself. However, that plan left her with feelings of uncertainty. Honestly anything could just happen to her in that situation. Nothing was guaranteed.

And then there was this, she'd be going to a normal school outside of that awful city, _no_ uncles, _no_ grandparents, and she might even get to see her mother regularly. The downside of course would be living with Kim Possible, her parents, and those Tweebs. Well, Jim seemed sort of okay, and as bad as Tim was he wasn't anywhere _near_ as annoying as Uncle Hego. Really, what other options were there?

Agni nervously looked up into Kim's two olive eyes and slowly nodded, afterwards she quickly broke the eye contact. "Y-yeah… um… I'd like to try…" Her cheeks steadily took on a much darker green complexion as she said words that she was largely unfamiliar with, "T- thanks, this is… uh…" She trailed off embarrassed by the teen's charity.

"No big." Kim said dismissively, before grinning. It was fun to see the girl look uncomfortable. Also seeing her actually blushing was it's own reward.

"No," Agni said looking back up at Kim, still dark-green in the face "it's big."

"Aww, how cute," Shego teased from over in the driver's side, causing Agni to look away suddenly. The pale girl then pulled her hood almost completely over her face before snapping, "_Shut up_, Mom!" causing both the thief and the heroine to burst into open mirth. Agni just snorted irritably and put on her headphones to drown out the noise of being teased from the altered-human's ears.

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Once the laughter died down an uncomfortable silence steadily fell over the car like a thick fog. With Agni retreating to whatever the hell she was always listening to, Kim and Shego were now left virtually alone with one another. Neither woman was sure what to say that wouldn't lead up towards some kind of huge argument, and as far as things went, outside of arguing what did they have to say to one another? Both unconsciously reclined back in their seats and looked forward towards the moving traffic, neither willing to break the stifling silence.

Shego played with the notion of turning on the radio but quickly abandoned the idea; she wasn't in the mood to have Kim get on her case about the music. Kim for her part, grit her teeth and summoned up all of her will power before turning towards Shego and finally saying,

"Well, at least Agni accepted, I was worried there for a bit."

Shego scoffed, "Of course she did, I know her better than I know myself. I wouldn't have even brought it up if it weren't a sure thing. I never do anything half-assed."

"That's for sure," Kim said darkly eliciting a curious look from Shego.

"Something on your mind?"

Kim turned her full attention towards Shego, "You never told me why you couldn't take care of her, what's the big secret?"

Shego frowned and applied more pressure to the gas pedal. "It's not a big secret; just use your imagination, that's probably more interesting than the truth."

Kim crossed her arms indignantly, "Well the truth is what I want."

"Than it sucks to be you."

"Dammit Shego! I'm going out on a limb for _your_ kid, doesn't that mean you owe me this?" She snapped.

The green thief hissed, and narrowed her eyes at the cheerleader. "Back at your house you told me you didn't want anything in return, even when I offered to pay you."

"Well, I lied. You know all about _that_ right?"

"I've _never_ lied to you, I've never _needed_ to. You're so gullible it's painful to watch sometimes!"

"Gullible? I am _not_ gullible!"

"Were Eric the Syntho-Drone still functioning I bet he'd say otherwise." She snapped back at Kim, smiling her usual evil smirk.

Kim just stared agape, before gritting her teeth and boiling in her own fury. "I cannot _believe_ you just said- Wait!" Suddenly her anger drained away and she smiled back at Shego causing the older woman to wince. "Oh, you _are_ good. You changed the subject away from my question so seamlessly it's like you scripted it."

Shego sighed defeated. "So I guess you're not _that_ gullible."

Kim scratched the back of her head before looking back over at Shego sheepishly. "Shego, I get that it's personal, but it's not like I would ever use it against you or anything, you know that."

"Fine, here's the deal," Shego said shaking her head, "If you can _actually_ manage to convince my black hearted mother to let you enroll Agni at Middleton, than I'll tell you whatever the hell you want, OK?"

Kim just nodded, "Fine, but how do I know you'll keep up with your end?" Kim asked offhandedly.

"You don't." Shego stated with simple directness.

"Do you really think I'm naive enough to accept a deal with you without some collateral?" Kim exclaimed, insulted by the green woman's implications.

"Yes, yes I do." Shego said trying to hide her smile for a greater impact.

"Gargh, you're so frustrating!" Kim exclaimed in exasperation. "Whatever, convincing your Mom will be a breeze anyway so it's in the bag." She stated with confidence.

"Ha!"

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Both women basked in the blessed silence as they made their way across the busy freeway. Shego's overly aggressive driving had effectively cut at least three hours off their long trip (even if it meant out running several perusing police interceptors much to Kim's outspoken dismay). Even doing something as normal as driving, Shego still found ways to break the law. At least Motor Ed knew how to put together a well-built car though, a lesser model wouldn't have survived such abuse. This time, however, neither woman was willing to hazard breaking the silence that had built up between them. Agni sat quietly in the back seat, idly staring out the window inside her head. Occasionally Kim would turn to look back at the young girl, herself considering the immediate future.

The redhead had no doubt that her parents wouldn't give Agni a second thought; in fact she actually doubted her father would notice the pale girl at first. The man was brilliant and an attentive father in most cases, however, certain seemingly obvious things just seemed to pass right beyond his notice, regardless. Her mother might have some reservations, but honestly, she'd probably understand when the situation was explained to her. As for the Tweebs… well, who honestly knew? They'd probably just ignore the pale girl. Kim had never even seen the twins hang out with any kids from their school outside of soccer practice, those two were simply an island unto themselves, so Agni probably would be noticed and then promptly ignored once the novelty wore off. There was simply something to be said about a family that let Kim get away with such dangerous hobbies without protest.

There was also the fact that she was finally about to see Shego's home, and her parents on top of that! What kind of family could produce people like Shego and her siblings? It honestly boggled the mind. She ran several theories as to what she might expect through her mind but none of them seemed appropriate. Kim couldn't even imagine, but the mother was obviously some piece of work if what the redhead had heard from Shego and Agni wasn't exaggerated. However, any account from children regarding their parents were always somewhat over-the-top, at least in Kim's experience, so she doubted that it would be near as difficult a conversation as Shego implied. At least she hoped it wouldn't be.

Her thoughts were soon cut off when Shego spoke up out of nowhere.

"Hey, Kimmie?" She asked; her expression was neutral as she continued to watch the open road. Had Kim not known better, she would have believed she had imagined it. She blinked in surprise at Shego's sudden communication.

"Yes?" She asked puzzled.

Shego inclined her head slightly in the redhead's direction. Her expression made telling what the jade-hued woman was thinking impossible. There was an awkward pause as Shego seemed to retreat inward, but when she finally spoke, Kim couldn't have prepared herself for the pale thief's next words.

"Thanks, for all this. I mean it." She then turned back away from Kim and looked out towards the highway.

Kim stared blankly for a moment completely shaken, before remembering herself and finally replying, "Y-your welcome, I said it was no big."

Shego's lips tugged up at the corners ever so slightly. "No, it's big."

Chapter 9: End.

Sorry for the long wait, Midterms, y'know? Also, once again, PM me any ideas you might have for some much needed excessive plot points. Thanks.


	10. Anxiety

Your standard legal disclaimer thing: I don't own Kim Possible. I will remove this story off the net if they give me shit. Blah blah blah, yada yada yada. You all know the drill by now.

Small Surprises, Big Consequences

Chapter 10: Anxiety

Ever since her unusual declaration of gratitude, Shego had returned to her silent composure, unwilling to say anything further on the matter and stubbornly rebuking any further attempts at conversation. Her gloved fingers clenched and unclenched unconsciously around the steering wheel over and over again making stretched leather noises. Kim took in all of this quietly not curious enough to find out what the pale villainess' reaction would be should the redhead see fit to draw attention towards the unusual behavior.

Kim simply sighed and leaned back, content to stare out the window and take in the scenery passing by around them. A repeating image of buildings, and towns flew past, blending in with the background until Kim wasn't seeing anything anymore; just a Technicolor blur intermingled with fuzzy shapes. Staring at such monotony for so long would normally have lulled her to sleep, but she was distracted from such leisure by other items of far greater interest.

For example, what was Shego's mother like? It was always better to have a game plan to play off of but Kim found herself lacking a great deal of what she considered need-to-know information. The heroine cast a quick look around towards her fellow passengers; Shego staring tensely at the road and Agni, hood pulled over her eyes and MP3 player blaring in her ears. Neither seemed willing to give Kim any information beyond the most basic.

However, considering all that Kim had heard, she expected a very strict domineering presence, like some stereotypical school headmistress or, crotchety old hag. Kim frowned and shook her head after digesting that image for a brief moment. The woman couldn't be _that_ old, maybe in her mid fifties at the very latest.

Kim filed that possibility away and shifted her train of thought towards another important (and interesting) matter. Namely, what would Shego tell her when it came time to explain why she couldn't raise her own daughter? And she_ would_ tell Kim too, that much was fact. Kim would manage to convince Shego's mother, as far as the cheerleader was concerned, it was only a matter of how.

Kim's own theory regarding why Shego seemed so uncomfortable with the idea of raising Agni was sketchy at best. Her best guess was that something, some event, had transpired eight years prior. Something bad enough for Shego to not only disown her own daughter, but her entire family as well.

Earlier, while Kim had been busy getting her travel bag assembled, she had phoned Wade and asked the boy-genius to go through old news reports from around that time, anything and everything referring to Team Go. Something big enough to make Shego decide to just up and disappear must have had some media repercussions. A person could only hide so much.

Kim's train of thought was suddenly derailed when she heard a sharp hiss come from over in Shego's direction. Carefully, Kim inclined her gaze towards the green-skinned thief for some confirmation on the sudden noise. Shego's eyes were narrowed and staring forward hatefully, smoke rose from between her fingers and Kim could smell burning leather. Turning to look over in that same direction, Kim could see the famous Go City skyline slowly creep up from beyond the edge of the horizon.

Kim thought back on when Hego, Mego and she had roped Shego into helping them save the Wegos and stop Aviarius. The villainess had been on the edge of her seat back then as well. Kim had found Shego's attitude odd at the time, but little by little she was coming to understand that there was much more than sibling rivalry occurring just below the surface of that incident.

Although, comparing Shego's attitude back then to now was like comparing a noisemaker to a hand grenade. Kim had the distinct impression while she watched the stressed-out thief that if she didn't walk softly, she wouldn't be walking at all. Of course, the reason for the increased tension now when compared to then was obvious. Then they had been merely saving Shego's siblings, now they were going to see her parents with her wayward daughter in tow.

Agni sat up suddenly when she noticed the approaching metropolis herself, and swallowed unconsciously. Reaching up, the dark-haired girl pulled down her hood and pulled out her ear buds, shoving the device deep into the folds of her sweatshirt. If there was one thing she wasn't looking forward to, it was seeing her grandmother after the stunt she had pulled.

Skipping school, and stealing from convenience stores was one thing (although she had yet to be caught for the latter), but disappearing for over four days was something else entirely. She'd never done anything quite that bad before, and considering how strict Roza could be for minor infractions (at least Agni considered them minor), the twelve-year-old wouldn't be surprised that the penalty for running away would mean being led to the chopping block.

Swallowing down her unease, the young girl spoke out towards Kim, surprising not only the redhead but her mother with the sudden interruption. "You sure this is gonna work? I mean, you sure you can convince Gram?" Agni was impressed with herself that she managed to conceal her doubts from her words. She only came off as inquisitive.

Kim blinked, and before she could respond with something to ease the girl's concerns, Shego cut her off.

"Don't sweat it, Kid. Everything 'll be fine." Shego stated resolutely casting a quick look over her shoulder meeting Agni's gaze with a light smile. "One way or another." She added, turning back towards the road. Kim frowned. It sounded like that last part was Shego speaking to herself rather than to Agni.

"Um, let's try to do this my way. Okay?" She asked cautiously trying to offset whatever violent thoughts her archrival might have been thinking with that last statement.

"Oh?" Shego asked with a sneer. "And what way is that, pray tell, Little Miss Perfect?" She scoffed and turned her nose up at Kim. "Your not the most diplomatic when dealing with me and Dr. D." the thief added matter-of-factly.

Kim sputtered for a moment at a loss for words, but then exclaimed, "Your mother isn't a super-villain!" Using Kim's method of dealing with violent criminals as the basis for this argument was simply ridiculous. If the redhead really treated her enemies the same as everyone else, she'd have laid Bonnie flat years ago.

But Shego wasn't finished, "No, she's _way_ worse. I can deal with super-villains." She snapped glaring at no one in particular.

Kim clicked her tongue in annoyance and decided to squelch this line of reasoning once and for all. "You should know that blowing things out of proportion like this doesn't make my job any easier."

Shego paused and regarded Kim for a moment. Then she smirked and shook her head contemptuously. "Who ever said this was gonna be easy?"

Then, before either Kim or Shego could say anything further, a quiet, mostly ignored third party spoke up. Worry colored the youthful voice. "So, you don't think she can do it, Mom?" Agni asked, this time unable to hold back her trepidation.

With those words, both Shego and Kim fell completely silent. In their senseless bickering, they had lost sight of the reason they were both doing this in the first place. Their arguing probably did little to assuage Agni's concerns, if anything it only served to intensify them. Both women felt cold shame creep up from within, and begrudgingly looked back towards one another apologetically.

Shego took up the responsibility of speaking first. "I-I mean…" she sighed and started her clumsy sentence over. "Yes, I _do_ think Kim can do it. I'm just pissed off and talking out of my ass."

"Yeah, this sitch is a cakewalk compared the stuff I deal with on a semi-daily basis." Kim added quickly.

Agni scrutinized Kim's expression against the validity of her words for a moment before responding with a troubled frown. "Really?"

_No._ "Yes, this'll be over before you know it." Kim said with a warm smile, in total contrast to her actual feelings on the matter. She idly noticed that the distant Go City scenery was rapidly engulfing the aggressive-looking black vehicle and its occupants.

Still not entirely convinced, the young girl crossed her arms and slouched back into her seat. "Good." She stated, "You'd better live up to all that 'I can do anything' crap." She added warningly.

Shego through back her head and laughed despite herself while Kim just groaned in defeat.

_I'm stuck in a car with the two most difficult women in the world_.

* * *

The three women continued into the city, welcomed by the noise and sights that separated the urban world from everything around it. Intersections were crowded by dozens of living bodies; huge stores and office building dominated the view in all directions. The air was thick with a dozen smells, and not all of them pleasant.

Shego was dead to it all, having grown up in such a setting for most of her life. For Agni, the feeling was even more so, she'd only left these steel and glass confines days ago. Things certainly hadn't changed during that time. Kim however was always taken in by the hustle and bustle of activity of Go City whenever she came by. It was like a huge distorted reflection of Middleton in almost every regard.

During their argument earlier Shego had managed to keep her mind off returning home. Kim was a good distraction regarding that task. Every time she began to feel icy dread condense in her stomach, she would just remind herself of Kim sitting next to her and how ludicrous this situation is; Agni's adorable (in Shego's opinion) little threat directed at Kim had just been the icing on the cake.

However, as familiar high-rise structures began to come into view, Shego's relaxed attitude began to shift back towards doubt and anxiety. With every block, with every traffic light, with every passed skyscraper, Shego got closer to everything she'd happily left behind. It felt as though icicles were forming up and down her spine, cutting into her, making the thief remember days when she was considered by many to be a hero among heroes. A less than happy time for the pale woman.

Shego especially recalled her eighteenth birthday. Everything had come to a head on that ominous date. It was the last time she'd seen her mother or her daughter. That day, she'd thrown everything away, cutting herself from Agni's life almost completely.

The exchange that occurred between Roza and herself that night played before her eyes with crystal clarity over and over, until it was forever seared into Shego's mind.

* * *

(Go City Central Hospital: Eight Years Ago)

Shego stared forward in silence before slowly placing her black-gloved hand against the cool glass separating her from the tiny form breathing slowly and evenly on the hospital bed. Aside from the intravenous drip, the four-year-old was almost completely uninjured compared to when she had been brought in only twenty minutes earlier.

By tomorrow morning, there would be no visible evidence she been so grievously wounded in the first place; such was the nature of Shego and her brothers' bodies. Had it been anyone else, they wouldn't have even made it to the ambulance.

The paramedics in the ambulance had been at first horrified by the searing feverous heat radiating from the young girl as her body overtaxed itself to repair the slashes across her back. The oddly colored flesh and blood certainly didn't help matters either. Shego had to insist that that was not what they had to worry about, despite that it contradicted everything they'd been trained in.

Now though, such drama was replaced by a tense silence within the recovery ward. Shego stood alone and watched, never taking her eyes off the child. However, she didn't step into the room with Agni either, she didn't have the right to approach. Not after what she'd…

The eighteen-year-old grit her teeth tightly, and clenched her right hand into a fist, her claws scraping against the glass until they curled into her palm. It was better not to think, it was better to remain numb, she decided.

Shego's left hand reached up and pulled free her black Team Go mask Hego always insisted she wear. Without even looking, she crumpled the offending accessory up into a tight black ball and tossed it over her shoulder. A dull clamor from behind indicated that the mask had landed in the trash bin, but she didn't even notice. She just stood there waiting for the young girl to wake up. There was something very important that Shego needed to tell her.

Unexpectedly, the teenager felt a silent and familiar presence enter the room with her but consciously chose not to regard it. A tall woman slowly and soundlessly approached at Shego's right side before stopping next to her and regarding the small form resting up behind the glass. Shego sneered and tried to keep from noticing the woman beside her, who herself was making no attempt whatsoever to communicate, merely standing and watching in silence.

The woman in question wore a large dark brown jacket, an untucked white blouse, black slacks and short black boots. Her jet-black hair was tied back near the bottom in a loose ponytail and she, oddly enough, wore a monocle over her right eye. Despite her actual age, she appeared to be in her early-to-mid thirties, and had a sort of classic underplayed beauty. Bitterly, Shego finally looked over at the woman and sneered.

"I'm surprised that _you_ even showed up." She snapped.

The woman for her part merely stood still and showed no indication that Shego's venomous words had reached her. After roughly thirty seconds of silence, the woman inclined her head in Shego's direction. Her expression was passive and still, neither smiling nor frowning. When she spoke, her voice was deeper than initial appearances would lead to and had a rough throaty harsh quality.

"My Granddaughter's been hospitalized. Despite what you like to think, Tasha, I _do_ consider my family a priority."

"Hah! That's a laugh. You care about something?" Natasha Drago AKA Shego smirked bitterly. "Then aren't you going to ask if she's okay? That's what someone who _cares_ would do."

"I don't need to." The woman replied levelly, "If she's alive than she's fine." When Shego looked like she was about to snap at the older woman she added, "Really, Tasha, do you honestly think I'd forget how quickly you and your brothers recover?" She looked over through the glass, "Agni's certainly no exception."

Tasha sighed and crossed her arms. "Wow Mom, I didn't realize you actually paid that much attention." She said, laying on a thick helping of sarcasm. Suddenly the ex-heroine's eyes turned cold. "You were home at the time right? You gonna tell me how she was taken from under your Goddamn nose?" Her knuckles popped as she formed two tight fists, both threatening to explode into heat and light at any moment.

Not flinching from the harsh eye contact, the taller woman answered calmly. "I don't have an excuse. One moment she was there, the next she was not. I _do_ accept full responsibility for that. However, in my defense I had no idea she was in danger of being taken by one of you and your brother's psychopathic playmates."

Tasha sneered and bared her teeth at the implication. "One way or another, what happened was your fault too." She smirked coldly. "Getting old must really dull the senses, eh Mom?"

Ignoring the bait, Roza turned to look down at Natasha, finally giving her full attention to her daughter. The fluorescent lighting glared harshly off the monocle the older woman wore over her right eye giving her any eerie supernatural appearance. An injury when Roza was younger had damaged the fragile muscles that regulated that eye's movement forcing her to wear the corrective lens so that she wouldn't see double. Roza never went into any substantial detail about how she attained such an injury in the first place. Although just about everything in the older woman's life from before Hego was born was a complete mystery.

"Sergei told me what happened earlier tonight, with Agni and that criminal," Roza said, her voice calm and unreadable, "Including what you did."

Annoyed that Mego was trying to drag their mother into it, the eighteen-year-old scoffed and crossed her arms, glaring up at Roza, "If you're gonna bitch at me about killing Bogeyman than you can save your breath. I don't regret it, not even a little."

Roza "tsked" disapprovingly. "Of course I'm not. I could care less; honestly, I would have done the same. Although, I doubt I'd have brought the building down in the process… but you always did have a flair for the over-dramatic."

Tasha's expression soured and she turned away processing that casual admittance. Considering the facts, she didn't for a second doubt that Roza wouldn't have killed the Bogeyman herself. The teen was certain that the woman had been involved in unsavory dealings in the past. What the raven-haired woman _did_ doubt was that she would have gone out of her way to do so, even for her own family. Roza barely gave them the time of day, let alone any indication that she cared in the least.

When she wasn't treated with a response Roza continued unabated. "He also says you assaulted Viktor and told him that you finally decided to quit playing cops and robbers. I admit that I was relieved to hear that," she shrugged. "He begged me to convince you to reconsider, but I don't think that I will. Although, I will say that I certainly don't approve of you striking your older brother."

"I do approve, I _totally_ approve. Hego just didn't get it so I made it perfectly crystal-clear to him. I'm done with this hero crap and I'm done with the whole Godforsaken city." Her tone was quiet and level with very little inflection. This was where she laid all the cards on the table.

Roza caught on to what her daughter was implying almost immediately. Despite this, her reaction to the news was as minor as an eyebrow twitch. She looked down at Tasha and spoke; her words seemed to have lost a great deal of their impassiveness and now appeared cautious. "You mean you're leaving?" Her eyes narrowed, "But somehow, I doubt you mean Agni is as well."

"She…" the pale-green woman looked over into the window and sighed. "I just…" She lowered her head gritting her teeth almost hard enough to crack her molars.

Suddenly she cast her mother a vicious glare, the corners of her eyes moist before snapping. "You were right, Goddammit! Okay? Is that what you fucking want to hear? You were right! I can't take care of Agni; I don't have what it takes."

The teen clenched her eyes shut and turned away abrasively rubbing the budding tears from her eyes. Even then, the chance to let her mother see her tears was simply not acceptable, _never_ acceptable. She wouldn't give Roza the satisfaction. "The whole time you were telling me I couldn't do it, and guess what, I really can't."

For her part, Roza's expression softened ever so slightly. Only someone familiar with her mannerisms would have noticed the difference. And at the time, Natasha was simply too distracted to take notice or even care if she had. "Why are you saying this now? Is it just because she was kidnapped from you?" She inquired. "That's a bit extreme, Tasha, even from you."

The sable-haired woman bit her lip hard but said nothing.

Roza's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms regarding her daughter critically. "Or was it that _other_ thing that happened tonight?"

Tasha's eyes widened suddenly and she looked up at Roza. "What other thing? I already told you, I'm glad I kill-"

Roza cut her off, which was a very rare occurrence. "_Don't_ insult my intelligence. You may not be aware of this but I actually arrived at this hospital several minutes ahead of you. I got a very clear look at Agni's injuries as they were moving her to this room. Even scabbed over it was really quite obvious…"

Reflective emerald eyes widened in horror.

"The angle of the slashes, the shape, their proximity to one another…" She looked down at Shego's right hand. "They were more than a little familiar." Roza then rolled up her sleeve to reveal five long thin scars surrounded by a wide discolored burn taking up nearly the entire length of her forearm. The flesh had healed smooth and stretched like rust-colored leather.

"Unlike you and your brothers, _my_ scars remain with me."

Tasha's words caught in her throat when she saw what her mother was implying. The woman was a freak, and a horrible vicious bitch if there ever was one. "Y-you don't understand, wh-what h-happened back then…"

Roza casually rolled her sleeve back down over the scar not bothering to look back up at her troublesome child. "On the contrary, I do understand. I understand _completely_." She looked up at met Shego's emerald green eyes with her own ice blue ones.

"If it had happened to me, I doubt I could face my children either." She shrugged dismissively, "In the thick of things, _unfortunate_ events are bound to occur."

The younger woman turned her back away from Roza and crossed her arms clenching her eyes tightly shut. "…She's not safe with me… hell; she's not even safe _from_ me…" She turned to walk back into the hall for some air. The hospital interior was quickly becoming suffocating. "I-I've got to go." She almost bolted for the door before Roza's words stopped her dead.

"What am I to tell her?" She asked inquisitively.

Tasha quickly whipped around and glared daggers at the older woman before snapping out, "_You_ don't tell her shit. _I'll _talk to her when she wakes up. And then I'm off."

Unflinching, Roza continued. "What are you going to do with yourself?"

The pale teenager scoffed in disbelief, "You care?"

"In my own way," She responded cryptically.

Beginning to feel exhausted from keeping up her anger, Natasha lowered her head breaking her Mother's gaze in order to collect her scattered thoughts. After a moment she shook her head. "I don't know… I'll at least keep in touch with Agni but… I just don't think I can face her…"

Roza narrowed her eyes in a rare show of open disapproval. "Hmmm… I see, well _I_ certainly wont dissuade you."

With a smirk, the young woman reached for the door handle to let herself out. "I'll bet. You were probably just counting the days until I got out of your hair anyway, right?" She was about to step through but stopped when a gloved hand fell onto her right shoulder halting her progress.

"Oh, Shego?" Roza said casually to get her wayward daughter's attention. Roza_ never_ used her alias when speaking to her. That alone was enough to stop Shego dead in her tracks.

The older woman continued when Shego looked back at her in surprise. "If you go through with this than don't be half-assed about it." Her words had taken on a slightly frosted edge.

Shego's brow furrowed, not quite catching her mother's meaning, "…What are you saying?

Roza sighed in annoyance and pulled her hand away since she no longer needed to coerce Shego's attention. "I'm saying that if you're leaving for Agni's protection, than coming back would be anathema to that design, would it not?" The frosty edge to her words had gone from cold to freezing.

Finally catching the woman's meaning Shego's eyes widened in horror, not quite believing Roza's words.

For final clarification, she added with a grim and harsh finality, "I'm saying; when you leave don't come back."

* * *

(Go City: Now)

_Actually hearing her say it…_ Shego frowned recalling those final parting words before she walked out of the hospital in a numbed fugue.

_She and I never could deal with one another, but hearing her just tell me to leave like that_, She clicked her tongue in frustration. _Dammit it hurt way more than it should've._

_I shouldn't even give a shit about that but I do and I hate it._ She mentally raged. Casting a quick look in Kim's direction, Shego saw her rival still taking in the city scenery. A cruel hypothetical question suddenly presented itself to the pale thief.

_Tell me pumpkin, what would you have done? If that Carroll Brady mother of yours suddenly decided you just weren't worth keeping around? I have a good guess.  
_  
Shego had only met Mrs. Dr. Possible two or three times in the past, but in those times she'd learned quite a few things about the nature of Kim's upbringing. _Anne Possible and my mom are so totally opposite of one another that I wouldn't be surprised if she was my mom's bizarro double. Stranger things have happened, 'specially to me._

The sound of Agni idly clearing her throat snagged Shego's attention away from her bitter thoughts. Stealing a quick look at the young girl through the rear-view mirror, Shego's internal loathing slowly did a U-turn towards a currently much more vulnerable target; herself.

_Am I any better?_ She wondered, considering her past relationship with Agni in its entirety. _Heh, hell no, if anything I'm way worse. Mom didn't disown me till I was eighteen._

She chewed her lip softly as she continued this harsh line of self-inspection. _I dropped out of my daughter's life when she was four. Not to mention other less than motherly actions I've taken in the past._ She couldn't help but wince reflexively at the memories that mental statement pointed towards.

_Let's face it, Sweetheart; this is the pot calling the kettle black. Even now, you're shifting Agni over to someone else, your worst enemy! You have no shame at all._

The villainess cast the distracted hero a sideways look. Kim Possible, her enemy, had agreed to help take care of her daughter. Why? Really, being a good person only took things so far. Was she trying to prove a point to Shego? Good really was better than bad or something equally trite?

_She's young and naive… and I owe her big. Bigger than big. And there's no way to balance these books either, not equivalently._

She frowned deeply and slowly pulled up her car to the curb in front of an old three-story redbrick building looming before them. The wear of its coloring and finish showed just how old this piece or architecture was, at least a hundred if it was a day. But it seemed well maintained despite.

Kim looked over the building inquisitively before raising her eyebrow in Shego's direction. "Where are-"

Shego cut the redhead off with a sharp hand gesture as she turned off the ignition slowly. It was Agni who answered Kim's unfinished question.

"Well… we're home."

Chapter 10: End

**Author's Notes: Hi, sorry for the long wait. My life is only busy when it's at the least convenient for me. I'll try to be better in the future. Hey, at least I finally got to introduce Roza though. That was fun.**

**By the way, once again, anyone with any ideas they think would be good for this story, please PM me. I _seriously_ consider all of them and this story needs them. Oh, and lastly, please review, I feed on reviews.**


	11. Confrontation

Your standard legal disclaimer thing: I don't own Kim Possible. I will remove this story off the net if they give me shit. Blah blah blah, yada yada yada. You all know the drill by now.

Small Surprises, Big Consequences

Chapter 11: Confrontation

Kim looked up and over the dark redbrick piece of architecture for well over a minute taking in its dimensions and noting it's considerable age. From the general wear of the surface and the style in which the building was constructed, it had to be some holdover from a much older era of Go City, long before steel and glass dominated the landscape. Kim couldn't help but wonder what growing up here must have been like. The building stuck out like a sore thumb.

The cheerleader smirked despite herself when she realized both her current companions had that in common with this nearly ancient building. Shego noticed Kim's slight grin out of the corner of her eye, it did little to soothe her already simmering temper.

"What the hell are you smiling at?" She stated, as she reached for the door latch.

Kim looked up suddenly, and glanced over at the thief's glowering expression. _She's gotten even less bearable since we entered the city. Is she going to be like this the whole time we're here? _Outwardly Kim just dismissed her question with a shrug as she stepped out onto the sidewalk.

"Just imagining the look on your face when I get this done," Kim stated flippantly.

Shego sneered for a moment but was too riled to even retort with a usual snarky response.

Agni was the last to get out of the car, looking up at her home with all the apprehension of a prisoner being led to the gallows. She swallowed nervously and looked back over at her Mother and Kim. _Remember, she says she can do anything, and Mom's with her and she can do _more_ than anything. It'll be cool… Wow, I am _not_ up to this optimistic crap Kim preaches._

Kim paused and looked at her watch suddenly noting just how late it was. The sky had darkened over, and streetlamps were now the major source of the surrounding light. The three had left the Possible household at around four in the afternoon, and it was now nearly eight-thirty at night. It would have been well into the night if Shego and that tank-on-wheels she called a car hadn't broken nearly ever traffic law ever written to get them here so quickly. But even so, Kim probably wouldn't have time to have a real sit-down with Agni's grandmother until tomorrow morning anyway.

_I'd rather get this out of the way as soon as possible, but I guess this is fine too. At least I'll finally get to meet who I'll be dealing with._

Shego on her end was far less positive while she looked up at the heavy dark-brown door before her. This building had been her childhood home since before she could even remember. She'd been an infant when her parents had moved to Go from the Ukraine almost twenty-five years ago and until she turned eighteen, this was where she'd called home. Regardless, that didn't mean she held any particular fondness for this place. The bad memories far outweighed the good.

The thief then glanced over towards where Agni stood; the preteen's hands were in her pockets to keep them from fidgeting with one another. Shego managed a weak smile at the sight. _Well, maybe they're not _all _bad memories._

She straightened up and turned to Kim. "Well, c'mon. May as well get this over with."

Kim took a step forward, but hesitated. "Um, Shego? Maybe we should get our game plan down first. Just so we're all on the same page."

Shego closed her eyes and thought about it for a moment, the looked up and crossed her arms. "What've you got in mind?" Agni leaned against the bumper of Shego's car and crossed her arms matching Shego's pose.

Kim thought on this for a moment, "Well, I think you should leave most of the talking to me. Last thing either of us wants is a messy drama."

Shego shook her head, "Not gonna happen, no way am I just gonna smile and sit in the corner like a good little girl." She held up her index finger knowingly, "You don't know my mom like I do."

"Gram is _really_ scary," Agni added frowning.

Kim sighed, and moved a stray lock of red hair behind her ear. "No offence but… neither of you are exactly the most… personable people I know."

Shego craned an eyebrow, while Agni just turned her nose up at Kim. "What's that supposed to mean exactly?"

"Look," Kim said in her 'laying down the law' voice, "You're going in there looking for a fight, and that's the last thing we need. Just leave the talking to me and everything will be spankin, _okay_?"

Shego looked Kim in the eye; both matching each other in willpower as they tried to stare one another down, but as expected Shego was the first to fold, looking away with a frown. "Whatever. Lets just go inside," She tsked, "God I hope Hego's working late."

Agni tensed slightly and pushed off where she was leaning, walking beside Kim as they made their way towards the door.

Kim looked down at the young girl and noticed her growing apprehension. The redhead smiled reassuringly down at Agni and placed a hand on her shoulder. Agni would never admit it, but she was able to find more comfort in that gesture than she'd normally have liked. The pre-teen blushed and turned away but this time didn't shrug off the hand.

Walking a few feet behind the two, Shego pretended that she didn't notice the closeness between her daughter and rival, and further pretended that she didn't feel the twisted stirrings of jealousy the sight brought up. Instead she opted to focus on putting one foot in front of the other as she approached the door. It was barely eight feet away but each inch forward felt like a mile.

Distracted by a stray thought, the thief paused suddenly and spoke in a strangely subdued tone of voice, causing the redhead to stop as well. "Um, it's Tasha by the way."

Kim blinked, "Who's Tasha?"

Shego flashed Kim a look of annoyance, and furrowed her brow. "_I'm_ Tasha, that's y'know, my _name_?"

Agni covered her mouth to hold in a snicker, while Kim just stared processing this news. "Tasha? Seriously? Wow, I just… I never would have guessed."

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Shego demanded defensively.

Kim backed up unconsciously holding up both hands. "Nothing! It's just…" she took a moment to consider her next words, "I guess I just thought that your real name would sound more like 'Shego' …or something."

Shego stared blankly at Kim. Meanwhile Agni, who had completely failed to hold in her snickering any longer, now held her sides as she laughed out loud, her anxiousness temporarily forgotten.

Shego's face twitched slightly, and then a sound similar to a gasp mixed with a cough escaped her. She tried her best to regain her straight face but after another quick sputter the thief finally joined her daughter in uncontained laughter at the redhead's expense.

Kim blushed harshly and looked down at the cement beneath her shoes.

"She thought-," Shego barely managed to say between laughs, "she actually _thought_-"

"I know, right?" Agni added, finally beginning to settle down and wipe a few stray tears from her eyes.

"Tell me, Pumpkin," Shego finally managed, wiping here eyes with the edge of her glove, "what good is an alias if it sounds like your real name?" she asked with an arrogant grin.

"Whatever, why bring that up anyway?" Kim stated, trying to recollect the fragments of her damaged pride.

"'Cause if we're gonna go in and see my parents, then it'll come likely up and I didn't want you to make an ass of yourself in front of them," she mimicked thinking on her words for a moment before adding, "sort of like your doing now."

"M- make an ass of myself?!" Kim sputtered.

_Oh you _so_ asked for it!_

She threw a glare Shego's way, and before the older woman could respond, Kim marched past her and walked right up to the door, rapping hard along it's surface with her knuckles and causing both Drago women to visibly pale, which was quite an accomplishment in and of itself.

_Laughing at me like that… it was an honest mistake for God's sake! _Kim mentally justified as she looked at the door in front of her.

Slowly the heavy wooden portal opened, and Kim couldn't help but feel her breath catch in her throat, completely unprepared for what to expect. When the door widened about a foot, a head that Kim didn't recognize peeked out and looked down at her in confusion.

The man looked to be in his early fifties with spiky salt-and-pepper hair, framing all the way down into a scruffy beard. His eyes were large and expressive, with nearly black irises. If Kim were hard pressed to place his age, she'd have guessed somewhere in his fifties or early sixties. The way his face was so heavily lined, and the dark bags beneath his eyes added a great deal to his aged appearance. He seemed to be wearing a button-up navy-blue dress shirt and khakis.

_If I had to guess, this must be the Grandpa. Okay, time to get my game face on._

Kim pulled off her trademark million-dollar smile up at the aged man. In most situations, this smile mixed with her youthful beauty had managed to win over even the gruffest and roughest people around, "Hello. My name is Kim Possible. I'm…" The heroine trailed off when she noticed that the man's attention wasn't even on her to begin with. He was craning his head over her, and looking directly at where Agni stood. The pre-teen was looking up at the older man with slight uneasiness.

Without preamble, the man shoved past Kim nearly sending her on her ass and ran down the stairs practically tackling the twelve-year-old in a bear hug while sobbing uncontrollably. Shego merely looked down at the display and curled her lip in distaste.

That's_ Shego's dad!? No, no way! I _refuse_ to believe that that's the man who raised Shego! _The redhead reasoned.

Kim was so stunned by the embarrassing display that she didn't immediately recognize that the words the man was speaking franticly as he hugged and cried onto the apparently _very_ uncomfortable girl weren't even in English. Drawing on her vast knowledge of linguistics, Kim quickly discerned that the tongue in question was likely Russian or some similar Slavic tongue. The heroine wasn't as confident in that particular language set as some others, but if she paid close attention Kim could manage the gist of it.

"Oh, Agni my little kitten! I was so _so_ worried about you! I stayed up all night fretting, oh but look at you; you've grown so big! Did you eat well? Why did you disappear like that? I was so worried, what am I to do with you!"

He went on like that nonstop at about five words per second, as he sobbed into Agni's shoulder. The young girl looked like she wanted to crawl out of her skin. _And I thought Bonnie's mom was bad! I'm embarrassed just _watching_ this! And what does he mean she's 'gotten so big', she's been gone only four days! _As he held on tightly, Kim could see very clear similarities in the man's build with Mego, both were tall and lanky with long faces. But his hair was closer to being like Hego's.

Kim's was surprised to hear that Agni's desperate pleadings for her release were similarly in fluent Russian as the pale girl tugged and pulled making every attempt at freeing herself.

"I'm fine, Grandpa so leggo! LET. ME. _GO_! Stop hugging me! You're embarrassing me, damnit!" Finally with one last push Agni sprung from her Grandfather's grasp and backed off panting and glaring daggers over at him. He looked back up at her with big weepy eyes and seemed like he was about to go in for another hug, but he was distracted by Shego clearing her throat.

"Dad, you never change." Shego stated dryly looking down at her father. During that whole display she'd been too disgust to even say anything, even though she had come to expect such behavior from that blubbering weakling.

Startled by the familiar voice, Shego's apparent father looked up at the thief in a stupor before his eyes once again began to over flow with tears. "Natasha!" He lunged forward probably with intension of giving Shego similar treatment to Agni. Shego however easily sidestepped him and held up a finger warningly.

"A-buh-buh-buh!, No hugs! I _don't_ do hugs! Don't think I wont set your tacky beard on fire if you try!" She stated warningly, and Kim noted, with a hint of panic.

Shego's father frowned in protest, "Oh, but Natasha my baby, your Papa has not seen you in so _so_ long, vhy you have to be so cruel? Give your Papa hug!" This time he spoke in English, but Kim almost preferred that he didn't, his accent was so thick she could barely understand a word of it.

Shego recoiled, and glanced at Kim pleadingly. Catching the hint, Kim stepped forward so she was once again in front of the man. Finally noticing her, Shego's father scrutinized her curiously. Kim wasn't surprised that this man didn't recognize her; he didn't seem to be the type to get out much.

Kim flashed her smile again, although not quite as brightly as before. "Hello, Mr… um," _Uh oh, what's his last name? I can't just call him Agni's Grandpa, after all. _To Kim's relief, Shego came to her aid.

"Drago," she stated blandly.

"Mr. Drago, my name is Kim Possible, and I-"

Mr. Drago interrupted her suddenly. "Are you the vun who help bring my little **котенок **home again?"he asked suddenly.

Kim blinked, but responded honestly, "Yes, I-" She almost fell backwards when she was met with similar treatment as Agni. She almost completely lost her balance when she was hit with his surprisingly strong bear hug.

"Oh thank you, thank you, you vunderful girl, I cannot show how happy you make me! I get you reward, das? Vhatever you like!"

"I- I don't need a reward thanks!" Kim said trying to figure the best way for her to slide out of his grasp, well best way that didn't include knocking him unconscious, "I just need to talk to you and your wife!" Being so tightly embraced by a complete stranger was certainly not the most comforting experience in Kim's seventeen years, added to the fact that she was having some trouble breathing.

Long past the point of fed up, Shego stomped forward and grabbed her father roughly by the shoulder prying the two of them apart, much to Kim's expressed relief.

"Dad, lay off for God's sake!" Shego fumed, "Just get Mom! I need to talk to her, get it?"

"No need," Said a deep hoarse voice from directly behind where Kim stood. With a start, the redhead whipped around and was faced with another new figure. All eyes were instantly turned towards the direction of the voice.

Filling the doorway as though she'd been standing there the entire time was a tall and very imposing woman. Entering into instant crisis-management mode, Kim instantly took in everything she could about the new face.

Unlike Mr. Drago, this woman's age was very difficult to get a fix on. Her face was almost completely free of wrinkles of any kind, and any expression to boot. But at the same time her bangs were nearly white with age with white streaks leading down her otherwise ink-black mane of hair, which was tied over her right shoulder in a loose ponytail. Positioned over the woman's right eye was a monocle, which caught the lamplight in such a way as to appear almost as though it were glowing. She wore a well-worn brown coat reaching down to mid-thigh with a black turtleneck underneath. Beyond that she wore dark slacks with short black boots.

She was tall, nearly reaching six feet in height with broad shoulders made all the more severe by the coat she wore. Despite this, from the way the turtleneck hugged her she also appeared very lithe. There were traces of Shego all over this woman from the build to the hair and especially the looks. Other elements were present of Shego's siblings but none so much as Shego herself.

Kim couldn't help but note that along with her appearance the temperature out on the street seemed to have dropped by at least five degrees.

Shego met the woman's cold sapphire gaze with burning emerald, her fists dripping stray green sparks that left black streaks when they hit the concrete. "Hey Mom, how's it hangin'?" She asked, her voice dripping acid.

Agni suddenly found her sneakers to be far more interesting than the goings on around her.

Stepping past Kim, whom was summarily ignored, Shego's mother turned her attention to Agni who hazarded a look up into the women's cold gaze, winced and looked away.

"Your room, Agni. Now." Her voice was calm and even, but regardless, Agni all but 'eeped' and barely risking a glance towards her mother, she bolted inside without another word.

Shego looked about to explode, mostly at being ignored, but it was her father who spoke first. His words were even clumsier than earlier. "Um, D-dear, Tasha iz home, you're glad, d-das?" Apparently even Mr. Drago, obnoxious as he was, seemed able to recognize a volatile situation when he saw one.

Mrs. Drago turned her gaze to her husband for a moment, "Dmitri, would you please go inside and see to it that Agni gets something to eat?" She asked plainly.

Sparing a glance between Shego and his wife with concern, Dmitir nodded once and followed the pale girl indoors. Mrs. Drago then looked back over to where Shego stood, appearing about ready to burst at any moment. "You're late," she stated calmly in sharp contrast to Shego's current smoldering mood, "You told me last night that you would be bringing Agni back some time this morning."

Shego smirked coldly, "That so? I don't recall." She stated mock consideration, "Senility can be a bitch, huh Mom? You're hearing things now?"

_This is not going well! I gotta say something, like, _now

"Um, Mrs. Drago?" Kim said hoping to draw attention away form this confrontation. It worked.

Turning her freezing gave towards Kim, the young woman fought the urge to take a step back. This woman_ was_ scary, particularly the way she seemed to be looking through Kim rather than at her. It was like she was silently being judged and found wanting.

Despite this, Kim called on all of her confidence and stood tall, matching the older woman's gaze with a smile. "Mrs. Drago, I'm-"

"Kim Possible. It would be remarkably difficult for someone to be ignorant of you and your exploits." She stated dully. "Considering all of the times you've kept people," she glance in Shego's direction, "like my daughter, from dooming the world to chaos, I suppose I owe you my gratitude."

Shego crossed her arms but, through an act of impressive willpower, refrained from speaking out after Kim shot her a look.

Kim wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. Was Mrs. Drago thanking her? It didn't seem the case considering the older woman sounded as impassive as earlier. "No big, just trying to do the right thing."

"Commendable," she turned towards the door and began to walk inside. "Lets continue this indoors." She didn't wait for a response as she made her way inside.

"Scary…" Kim mumbled under her breath. The redhead dealt with maniacs trying to take over the planet on an almost daily basis, but this woman still managed to give her chills.

Shego walked up to Kim and added self-righteously, "Told yah she's a monster."

Kim glared at Shego, "So not helping," before following the thief indoors.

* * *

The general interior of the Drago household was arranged along the same lines as the exterior, old but very well maintained. However, unlike most old buildings Kim had visited in the past, this home thankfully lacked the dank smell of stale plaster and dust. A closet to Kim's left and a coat and hat rack to her right framed the entryway leading inside. Despite its many hooks, the brown coat Mrs. Drago had been wearing not a minute ago was the racks lone occupant. The walls were all painted white and the rooms were well lit, revealing the spaciousness within the home.

Kim proceeded forward, looking around for where their apparent host had disappeared. When she could find no sign as to what direction Mrs. Drago had gone, she turned and looked back towards her green-skinned companion.

Shego didn't seem to be quite 'here' from what Kim could tell from the distant look in the thief's eyes. The villainess' gaze seemed to be wandering the length of the hallway, taking little details in. Turning her attention to one of the hallway walls, Kim could hear Shego mumble under her breath, "They finally changed that wallpaper…"

Since the comment had been directed to no one in particular, Kim opted not to respond. The thief's semi-dazed expression further served to drive home the earlier point of how long it had been since Shego returned home. Kim tried her best to imagine a similar scenario from her own point-of-view, disappearing from home for eight years, no visits, no correspondence, and then returning out of the blue.

Kim couldn't do it, the idea was simply too alien.

Shego slowly brought her attention away from a peach vase along the far wall and turned her gaze back to Kim. Noticing that she was the object of the redhead's current attention, Shego clicked her tongue and pushed past.

"What the hell're you staring at? C'mon, the hell-bitch is waiting."

Kim caught up and walked parallel with the raven-haired woman. "I've never been here before, remember? How am I supposed to know where she went?"

Shego took a second to consider this, but brushed it off. "Still doesn't mean you can just gawk at me, freakin' creepy."

Kim ignored that last jab and instead, pushed forward and in front of Shego halting the pale woman's progress. "Shego, listen, could you maybe let me talk to you mom alone for now?"

Shego stared down at the redhead, like she had just grown a third eye. "What? Hell no! You lost your mind?"

Undeterred, Kim pushed the issue further. "I need to present my case objectively, and I can't do that if I have to keep worrying about you every five seconds."

Shego's eyes narrowed. "Forget it! There no way that I'm going to just leave it all to you with a smile and a prayer. No way, no how."

Kim grit her teeth, "Stop being so damn stubborn! If you want my help than we do this _my_ way, no arguments," she added firmly.

Shego's fists curled tightly, but her tone seemed less confrontational than before, much to Kim's relief. "You don't know her like I do."

Kim nodded, "Yeah, and that's the point. I need to be objective about this, if for nothing else so I can figure out a strategy." She then smiled, "Then I'll have won our bet and you're going to tell me all about why you left and any single other little thing that pops into my head."

"You're so damn confident all the time. It's _really_ annoying." She couldn't help but smile slightly; it was sort of comforting to see.

Kim shrugged modestly, "Duh! Remember? I-"

"Can do anything, yeah yeah, way to beat a dead horse." She turned back to walk the opposite way, conceding to Kim's request. "Mom's probably in the dining room, go straight and you can't miss it." She started to walk away, speaking without breaking stride, "I'll be upstairs checking on Agni. You'd better come up and tell me how it goes! I am _so_ not kidding." Green smoke trailed off her hand to further her point.

Before the cheerleader could respond, Shego disappeared around the corner soundlessly.

_Well that went… smoothly. _She turned and walked forward, her destination set, _now for the hard part._

* * *

The dining room was a great deal like Kim expected which was a nice change of pace for once. The interior was very spacious even despite being mostly dominated by a large ovular oak dinner table. There was a door at the far end of the room that likely led into the kitchen and there were eight chairs situated evenly around the table.

_Two for the parents, five for the children, and one for Agni, _Kim reasoned. The fact that there was still a place for Shego was not lost to the redhead.

As Shego had predicted, Mrs. Drago sat at the far end of the table. Without her jacket on, her appearance was far less aggressive. She still possessed a fierce air about her but nowhere near to such an extent as earlier. The graying woman's elbows were on the table with her fingers steepled together, partially obscuring her face. A small teacup on a saucer was positioned in front of her; it's contents gradually giving off a rising steam. Two other places were set on the opposite end of the table, with a teakettle in the dead center of the table. Mr. Drago was nowhere in sight.

Mrs. Drago met Kim's gaze dispassionately before making a gesture towards one of the set places. "Please have a seat, Miss Possible." When she noticed Kim's wandering eyes the older woman added, "My husband apologizes but he's opted to spend the remainder of the evening in his study. I've set a place for you so that we can talk alone for now."

Kim nodded, and pulled out the chair that put her closest to Mrs. Drago. Smiling, Kim added politely, "Thank you, and please, call me Kim."

Mrs. Drago turned her attention to her own cup, briefly taking a sip before looking back over at Kim. "I'd rather continue to refer to you as Miss Possible," she responded levelly, "Anything else would be inappropriate."

"Um, if you insist," Kim responded uncomfortably. _Is she a Vulcan? How did a woman like this end up with a man like Shego's dad? They're like hot and cold! On top of that, she hasn't asked once where Shego went…_

As if she could read the heroine's mind, Mrs. Drago asked, "Shego went upstairs I take it?" although it was presented almost rhetorically.

Doing an excellent job restraining any visible misgivings, Kim answered honestly, "Yeah, she said she was going to check up on Agni."

"I see," she paused to take another sip, and Kim took this opportunity to try her own tea. She wasn't much of a tea drinker herself, but Monique was so Kim tended to have some whenever she visited her best girlfriend's home. This particular brew, Kim found, was mint flavored. The warm liquid did quite a bit to help settle any of her growing apprehension.

After a moment of silence, Mrs. Drago, set her cup back down on the saucer, and turned her attention fully on the redhead. Her gaze bore into Kim like two drill bits. That lens she wore over her right eye only worsened the effect. _Why is she even wearing that thing?_ If she looked hard enough, Kim could see a thin faded line of scar tissue running the length of the graying woman's right cheekbone._ Maybe it's because of some kind of injury, but still…_

"I feel I owe you an apology. It seems that my family has quite the habit of causing you grief, Miss possible."

Kim blinked suddenly, and apology was the last thing she expected to leave that woman's lips. _Well Shego doesn't make my life easy, in fact things have been mega-complicated over the last few days, but that's all part of the job. _"It's no big, really."

The woman's eyebrow raised barely a millimeter, but that aside, her expression remained the same. "My daughter has over and over again assisted that manic cerulean psychopath in whatever depraved scheme he concocts. On top of that, last year you, Shego and two of my other sons helped rescue my two youngest from that depraved bird-fetishist only to have her turn on you moments later. I even understand that the little children's meal toy Hego brought home not four months ago, which later morphed into a fifteen foot tall death machine, was partially her doing as well. And you tell me that this wasn't 'big' as you put it?" She steepled her fingers back together.

Kim couldn't help but frown at that, the woman across from her hadn't changed her tone once, but that still sounded harsh. "If I wasn't ready for things like that, then I'd never gotten into this work in the first place."

"Even getting roped in to assisting my Granddaughter?" She asked with a vague hint of curiosity.

_Well I'd be lying if I said I was ready for _that_ but no reason to let her know that. _"It was fine, Agni is… interesting company" Kim countered undaunted.

"I'm sure of that. Especially considering she seems to have modeled her life very closely after her mother. Poor judgment seems to run very strongly in my family."

Kim raised an eyebrow at that, _the way she said that, it was like she was talking about herself as well. I wonder what that means…_

"I must thank you for that. You assisted in returning Agni to my care and she seems to be in good health. Is there anything I can do to reciprocate this act of good will?" Kim was sure this time that the woman in front of her was leading to something. Did she suspect Kim's true motives somehow? How was that even possible?

"Well, actually…" Kim trailed off to try and consider the best way to start off her argument.

_I may as well just get to the point; this is like ripping off a Band-Aid, better to do it quickly than drag it out._

"I know you're not here simply to return my granddaughter. Shego could have done that without your assistance." Mrs. Drago said suddenly, her pale eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

Kim's eyes widened,_Okay, so she's psychic, or at least close enough, but that's no reason to get riled. Just roll with it. _"Your right, I was hoping to have a word with you about Agni's future." She waited for Mrs. Drago's reaction. As expected, it was underwhelming, merely a slight twitch of her right eyebrow.

"I concluded as much on my own." She stated factually. Then, suddenly she pushed back on her chair and stood, picking up her saucer with which sat her now empty cup. "However, for conversations of that variety, I would rather we wait until morning." She walked around a somewhat vexed Kim and picked up the other untouched cup and saucer.

Kim frowned but nodded. _I suppose that's best but…_

"I'll prepare a guest room for you." Mrs. Drago added, before disappearing in the direction of the kitchen and leaving Kim alone with her thoughts.

Kim visibly deflated and looked down into her still mostly full teacup. _Okay, not a smooth as I'd like but at least I met her. This little sit-down wasn't to talk either. She was scoping me out. Just like I was scoping _her_ out. Now though I've got plenty of time to figure out a way to tackle this. _Kim smiled humorlessly. _I'll just pretend she's a Bebe. She's close enough. Jeez, couldn't she at least frown or something? Any expression at all would have been nice. _She sighed and took a deep sip of the still warm tea, and savored the flavor for a moment to clear her head.

_At least there should be no major drama from here on out._

* * *

It was a dark quiet place where Benjamin Zachary Crater spent the last ten years of his life. Back out in the world BZ was a man to be feared and respected. His name used to send chills down the spines of brave men, and left the cowardly wetting their drawers in abject horror. He had fame, he had power, but above all he had their fear. Now though, he had nothing, less than nothing.

He so missed those golden years.

These days, his world consisted of a twelve-by-twelve metal cell, guarded on all sides by high-power automated turrets, and blocked off by a set of force fields. The only proof he had that their was still a world out their beyond these chrome walls was the tiny joke of a window from which currently spilled forth thin rays of lunar light. His only companion was the enormous shadow he cast on the far wall staring back at him.

Benjamin had a lifetime more of this to look forward to, all thanks to _Her_.

A wide pearly white grin slid across the man's dark molasses features. He was always in a good mood when he thought of that valkyrie. The one who robbed him of his dignity and left him little more than a bloody stain on the ground. He reached up with his huge right hand and lightly ran his fingers down over the thin diagonal ridges leading from his right temple down to the left crook of his jaw. There were five scars in all; BZ thought they gave his face character. It was too bad that there was barely anyone around to appreciate them.

Movement out of the corner of his eye drew BZ's gaze up and back towards the shadow he was casting from where he sat on his bunk. It was strange; he shouldn't look that thin, not after all the exercises he ran through every day to fill the time. His body was over four feet wide of solid muscle tissue, not some thin crooked streak such as the far wall currently displayed. He was also wearing a gray prison-standard jumpsuit, not some shredded up cloak. But the umbra, which had completely replaced his familiar and very recognizable silhouette, remained even after he rubbed his eyes. It meant only one of two things;

either he had completely lost what little of his mind remained, or BZ wasn't alone in the room.

"My oh my, Mr. Crater." The shadow said, in a harsh and clear metallic hiss. He/it spoke with a tone more appropriate to come from a parent chastising a child, "What a disappointment it is to see a fellow artist in such a _debilitated_ state as this. Locked away in a kennel for beaten dogs. Forgotten, but _certainly_ not gone."

BZ scoffed openly, deciding that he would humor this apparition. Crossing his thick arms over his barrel chest, the dark man turned his nose up at the shadow and stated arrogantly, "Artist? You fuckin' kiddin' me? You know who yer talkin' to, Slim? Aint no goddamn _artist_ here."

The shadow spread it's arms and responded in barely restrained jubilation, "_Au contraire_, Mr. Crater, I see someone with _impeccable_ artistic sensibilities. The Billion-Bomb Panic, The Go City Bridge job, when you joined forces with Electronique, and Dyno-Saur and took control of the traffic system. All of these were _beautifully_ crafted pieces." With every crime listed, the implausible silhouette raised a finger on his right hand. Each digit seemed to end in a wicked hooked claw. He then smirked and curled his claws back into a tight fist. "Were it not for five children in clown-suits, you would have gone down as one of the best villains in Go City's history."

"I got screwed durin' every one o' dem '_pieces_' you're talkin bout, fool," mocked Benjamin with casual disregard. It was as though such failures no longer even reached him.

"Yes," agreed the specter, "but why was that? Who was responsible for your fall from the top? Was it that muscle-bound simpleton? The self-absorbed half-pint? Those red twins by the dozens?" He laughed lightly, "Who would you blame for your remarkably _embarrassing_ failures?"

Smiling despite his best attempts at keeping a level expression, BZ ran his fingers down along the many thick scars lining his face. "Heh, mah baby girl, dats who."

The shadow nodded exaggeratedly, "Ahh, yes. I recall now, you ended up here _not_ because of your more colorful schemes, but because you made a fool's mistake. You actually attacked a sixteen-year-old girl while she sat in her high school cafeteria in order to enact your petty revenge. And for all your trouble you were not only thwarted, but also_ thrashed_, _burned_, _shredded_, and left a pulpy _mess_ for the local authorities to mop up." The umbra made a weak gesture towards BZ's mangled features, "If I am not mistaken, she even branded you in that final exchange."

Throwing back his head, the enormous dark man laughed out loud slapping his knee, "_Hell_ yeah, it's why I'm so pretty." When his amusement died down some, he lowered his thick brow discerningly and inspected the shadow with new caution. "So… who da hell're you anyway, Slim? I finally fall down dat rabbit hole, er what?

The lanky silhouette tsked in annoyance. "Hardly. I'm merely someone with similar grievances with our mutual nemesis."

BZ raised an eyebrow curiously. "Last I heard, she was battin' for the winnin' team these days." He frowned and shrugged his enormous shoulders. "It's freakin retarded for badguys to go after other badguys. 'n I don't play dat way no more."

Even without any visible expression, the lanky shade seemed to momentarily bristle. "You honestly feel no animosity for our lady in green?"

Benjamin cracked his thick knuckles and leaned back on his bunk with his eyes closed in thought. "Nah," His lips then split into a lecherous amoral grin before he added, "'sides, I hear she grew into one _Grade A_ piece o' ass, heh heh…"

The shadow recoiled slightly. "Disgusting." Requiring his bearings it then added coldly, "Regardless, I want to make a deal with you, Mr. Crater." The shadow then crossed his rail-thin arms and spoke the next few words very clearly. "How would you feel about killing a fellow villain, if the payment was the complete return of your freedom and power?"

The dark man's cocky grin suddenly fell back, and he opened his eyes glaring back curiously towards his impromptu visitor. He said nothing, simply watched and waited for the nightmarish figure to speak his piece.

Taking this as it's cue to continue, the shadow set it's terms, "I will give you the means of freeing yourself from this titanium purgatory. But in return, your assignment should be most obvious."

Benjamin sat up suddenly and glared back at the figure, trying his best to figure out the specter's game. Was this some trick? Why after ten goddamn years of solitary confinement, ten years of nothing but dark corners and twisted memories to fill the silence? Why now, after his rage had long grown cold, was he given this second chance? Because, it was a trick, a trick or a figment of BZ's own warped psyche. "No deal man. The last time I got my ass kicked, this time, I'm libel to get my ass _killed_."

"You would rot here forever?" the shadow asked skeptically.

"I aint suicidal!" He snapped, finally standing up for the first time, all eight feet of his colossal height towering over the villainous umbra. He stood before the shadow, which barely came up to his collarbone, his meaty fists ready to put a sizable dent in the wall despite how ludicrous that idea sounded even in his own mind. "And I hear she's even more of a badass now than then. So get the fuck out o' my face 'fore I-"

"What if I could secure you the means of absolute victory?" The jarring voice asked with mock innocence as it stared up towards Benjamin's beady black eyes.

BZ snorted in frustration like a bull, and lowered his head so he was eye-to-where-eyes-should-be with the living darkness. "Then we'd finally be talkin' business, but you _can't_ Dawg, so vamoose. _Comprende_?"

For a moment the shadow regarded BZ silently, but then turned his 'gaze' towards the man's clenched left hand. Following suit, BZ looked over at his tight fist and saw clenched between the fingers as though it had been there the entire time was a Polaroid photo. Letting go as though he held an unpinned grenade, Benjamin whipped back around towards the wall, about to demand how the shadow had placed the crumpled photo within his grip;

but the only shadow that greeted him was his own. Before he could even question these events, every wall reverberated with a final clear message, forcing BZ to cover his ears in pain and wonder how it was possible that the guards still had yet to notice this cacophony.

**_"There within that photo is the means of your assured conquest, and now with you I leave this little… _token_ of my thanks. Do with these offerings whatever you please."_**

Turning quickly around, BZ was greeted with the sweetest sight he had seen in ten long lonely years. The way the moonlight danced over the darkness's parting gift made the massive man's heart swell and his hands tremble.

On the floor of his cell, arranged neatly and orderly, was his armor. The powercells along the gauntlets hummed with full energy, and the stylized 'BZ' emblem on the chest crackled with stray sparks of power. With reverent careful hands, Benjamin reached forward and grasped the right gauntlet, running his rough, scarred and calloused fingers along its unnaturally warm surface.

Unable to hold back any longer, he slid his forearm securely within the confines of the metal glove. The material recognized its master almost immediately and tightened over his skin, sending nano-threads into his pores and locking into his nervous system with a tingle reminiscent of having his arm fall asleep. When the connection was complete bright circuit patterns danced along its surface. He repeated this near-worship and reequipping of every armored section until where the enormous black man once stood, now was a titan in glowing energized kinetic power. _His_ power.

After ten years of forgetting himself or what his name represented, Benjamin Zachary Crater was now dead. Raised from his remains was his true self.

_It's all comin' back to me now, this feeling… _With a vague swing of his arm in the direction of the far wall, the air momentarily rippled and then the titanium-reinforced wall tore itself to shreds. Alarms and warning sirens filled the night but it was an impotent gesture.

They couldn't stop him; they couldn't stop Blasting-Zone. Yes, that was his real name. He would put it on the tongue of every pissant in Go City.

Blasting-Zone then looked down at the tiny photo his savior had left in his care. It showed a young girl barely in her teens with short black hair and impossible emerald eyes. She sat alone and dejected in some school cafeteria wearing a black elegantly cut school uniform. The irony wasn't lost on him. Apparently his shadowy employer was a comedian. At the bottom, written in red calligraphy was this; _She makes a fine shield, a shield even Shego cannot pierce. Just a suggestion. _There was a small smiley face added to the end of the message.

He grinned through his mask as several armed guards ran his way.

Pocketing the photo in one of his many compartments, he swung his other arm in the direction of the guards and smiled as the sounds of splintering bone filled the air. _I'm comin back to town, Shego. Hope yah missed me._

Chapter 11: End

**Author's Notes: Who actually thought that a villain I mentioned offhandedly in chapter seven would come back like this?**

**Well on to more important things. I'm going to be overhauling all past chapters of SSBC, and until that's finished I'm afraid I wont be adding any new chapters. But with my beta Ffordesoon's help, this should be well worth the wait. Look forward to it, and please review. Also to any of you familiar with Rina Cat of DeviantART, she did an amazing picture of Agni with Shego. Just check out her page to see it.**


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